22-05-2025
Man jailed for nine years after admitting to drugging, sexually assaulting and secretly filming two people
An ACT Supreme Court judge has described the actions of a Canberra man as "degrading" and "a gross breach of trust" after he admitted to drugging two people until they were unconscious before filming himself sexually assaulting them.
WARNING: This story contains content that readers may find distressing.
The 29-year-old has been sentenced to more than nine years' jail after he pleaded guilty to several counts of aggravated rape, aggravated assault and capturing intimate images.
The crime came to light when an 18-year-old woman, who had been living with him in a tent, discovered footage of herself being raped while unconscious in a hotel room.
The victim said the man injected her with drugs beforehand and she had no memory of what happened that night, beyond waking in the morning feeling sore and extremely unwell.
Justice Belinda Baker said the video had shown the man raping the woman several times.
Later, police discovered a second victim, a man, with whom the offender had previously been living.
He told police the offender had admitted to him at the time that he had rendered him unconscious with drugs and then filmed the incident in the bedroom when the pair were hosting some guests.
Afterwards the man said the offender suggested he had consented, in an earlier conversation, in what Justice Baker described as an effort to gaslight the man.
The 18-year-old female victim also said the offender had suggested something similar to her.
"[She was subjected to] a degrading, graphic sexual assault … in a gross breach of trust."
When the man was interviewed by police he said he had an audio recording of the woman consenting, and a book recording the contract for their sex life, but these were not produced.
Justice Baker noted the man's life was dominated by drug-taking, including cocaine, methamphetamine, GHB and other illicit drugs.
She told the court the offender had been diagnosed with ADHD when he was young, but later made a decision not to take it and began using the other drugs.
A pre-sentence report revealed he had been diagnosed with a number of mental illnesses including ADHD, borderline personality disorder, PTSD and depression.
The report assessed him as having a "well above average risk of reoffending", particularly since he has been diagnosed with somnophilia, which is a sexual attraction to people who are asleep.
Justice Baker said the man showed little remorse at the outset, although he wrote to the court saying: "It was never his intention to hurt two people he loved."
He had earlier said he didn't understand what he was doing was wrong until he was charged.
Justice Baker said while there were grounds to reduce his moral culpability because of his circumstances, including a long battle with homelessness, she also had an obligation to protect the community from sexual violence.
The man has been sentenced to nine years and three months in jail, with a non-parole period of six years.
With time served the man will be eligible for parole in 2028.
