A Bhutanese immigrant teenager who violently raped a woman near a house party in Canberra has been spared jail after a judge took into account his “limited insight into societal norms in Australia”.
The 18-year-old, who cannot be named as he was 16 at the time of the attack, pleaded guilty to a rolled up charged of sexual intercourse without consent, and appeared in the ACT Supreme Court for sentencing last month.
In a decision published on Tuesday, Justice Andrew Muller gave the rapist an 18-month prison sentence to be suspended immediately for him to enter into a good behaviour order with supervision, lasting until April 2028.
The court heard that the rapist, who had arrived in Australia six months earlier, met his then-18-year-old victim at the August 2025 party in Holt where they were both drinking, and walked her to a green belt nearby.
The pair kissed consensually, but the offender then ripped the victim’s clothing open and she froze in fear. He pinned her down and raped her before forcing her to perform oral sex even though she cried “please stop, I don’t want this”.
She later described the assault as “rough and really unpleasant”, and said she was scared he would hurt her if she tried to run away.
In an impact statement the victim said the rape caused a “loss of dignity, confidence and sense of self”, said “that night her life was stolen and will forever be changed”, and said struggled with basic tasks for six months because of the impact of the assault.
The court heard that despite pleading guilty and agreeing to a statement of facts, the rapist said in a pre-sentencing interview that because his victim didn’t say no in the beginning he believed the intercourse was consensual, said she was “exaggerating stuff”, and that it was his first sexual experience.
He said that he was sorry and “sickened” with himself, and that in future he will “confirm verbal consent”. The court also heard that the offender’s father believed his son’s actions “stemmed fundamentally from ignorance”.
Justice Muller said in sentencing that while he was concerned about the level of insight the rapist had into his offending, he found the teenager “now realises the giving of consent to sexual interaction necessarily involves clear and active communications to that effect, not just an absence of express refusal”.
“I accept his prior lack of sexual experience and inevitably limited insight into societal norms in Australia given his very short time in the country prior to the offending are factors mitigating his moral culpability,” he said.
“His responses in the course of the completion of the pre-sentence report readily demonstrate his limited state of development both in terms of sexual experience and also in his understanding of concepts of consent as they relate to sexual interaction.
“I have given weight to the evidence of his prior lack of sexual experience, and his restricted opportunity for social development within this community having only migrated to Australia some six months prior to the offence.”
Justice Muller said that while the prosecution had submitted that only custodial sentence would be appropriate, he believed that in order to promote the rapist’s prospects of rehabilitation the period of imprisonment should be served in the community.
“In reaching that view I am also mindful of the conclusion reached by the authors of the pre-sentence report that [the offender’s] prospects of reoffending are low. His family circumstances are also positive for a low risk of reoffending noting he continues to live in a stable and supportive family environment,” he said.
Header image: Justice Andrew Muller (ACT Government).
