Rapist who wrote on victim's body told 'society is impoverished' when women treated as objects

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.

A rapist who repeatedly assaulted a woman after filming himself writing his personal details on her body has been told his degrading crimes not only caused enormous harm to her but also to the community.

“Every time a woman is treated as a sexual object or labelled as the possession of a man, society is impoverished,” Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told Marquis Monte Rex Mack when sentencing him on Tuesday (16 July).

In December 2021, the woman was still a teenager and was out one evening in Canberra City when she met then-19-year-old Mack, who introduced himself as ‘Kees’, in a nightclub.

When he led her off to a car park, she thought they were going to “make out”. But after they started kissing, Mack pulled out a permanent marker and used it to write or draw on parts of her body.

For instance, he wrote “Kees is daddy” on her, “Kees was here” with arrows pointing to an intimate part of her body, then also wrote his mobile phone number as well as his Instagram and Snapchat handles on her stomach and thigh.

He told her it was “so funny” and started taking photos and videos of the writing on the intimate parts of her body with his phone. He said he wanted to send them to his “workmate” before she told him she didn’t want him taking photos.

“Like, just chill. No one is going to know it is you,” he told her.

Unbeknownst to her, he had also taken a video of himself committing a consensual sex act on her.

While there was some consensual sexual activity between the pair, Mack raped her while holding her against a wall, telling her to be quiet so others walking nearby wouldn’t hear them.

This last assault continued for several minutes until a group of people arrived near the car park and Mack stopped. The survivor went to police later that same night.

“I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror without seeing the sickening writing that was tagged over my entire body as if I were a piece of property,” she wrote in a statement that was previously handed to the Supreme Court.

Chief Justice McCallum said by threatening to distribute the intimate images, Mack effectively treated the survivor “as a piece of live pornography”.

“Without her knowledge, he filmed what should have been mutually pleasurable intimate acts,” she told the ACT Supreme Court.

“He then started labelling parts of her body as his possessions or conquests and filmed that, too. He found this so hilarious he couldn’t wait to show his mates.

“He dismissed the victim’s protests with the doubtful assertion that no one would know it was her, as if that excused his use of her body as a sexual object that was his to tag and share.”

She said while police didn’t find evidence that he had sent the images to anyone, the survivor had every reason to fear he would.

Chief Justice McCallum also said the survivor told Mack “unequivocally” that she would not have sex with him without a condom; however, he then raped her without using one.

“Sexual intercourse without consent is always serious. Every person has a right to choose the manner of and terms on which they have sex,” she said.

Mack pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of threatening to distribute an intimate image.

The third-year apprentice carpenter is now aged 22, and the chief justice said that when sentencing a young offender, the promotion of rehabilitation should be given substantial weight.

He was convicted and sentenced to three years in jail with a two-year non-parole period. With time served, he is eligible to be released from May 2026.

Mack put his head on the edge of the courtroom’s dock after he learned his sentence, then was seen being led away in tears.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.