9 March 2021

Canberra pub owner admits repeatedly raping former partner

| Albert McKnight
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ACT Law Courts

A Canberra man has admitted he raped a former partner on several occasions. Photo: Michelle Kroll.

The owner of a Canberra pub has admitted he repeatedly raped his former partner, committed indecent acts in front of a two-year-old child and illegally shared private photos taken of another woman.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of his victims, pleaded guilty to a raft of changes when he appeared via telephone in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 9 March. He is being held in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.

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The court heard the man, who is aged in his 30s, raped his first victim six times over 2011 and 2012 while in Canberra and committed 22 acts of indecency on or in the presence of this woman over these years.

The charges relating to acts of indecency in front of a child occurred during this time.

In 2017 and 2018 the man illegally shared intimate photos of a different woman, who was also one of his partners, without her consent about 17 times.

In total, the man pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse without consent, eight counts of committing acts of indecency without consent, three counts of committing acts of indecency in the presence of a child under the age of 10 and seven counts of non-consensually distributing an intimate image.

Several charges were amended while others were withdrawn and the statement of facts was tendered to the court before Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker returned them to the prosecution.

The man’s lawyer told the court, while he did not object to the facts being tendered on committal, there would be some “tweaking” of them before sentencing.

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Magistrate Walker committed the man for sentencing in the ACT Supreme Court with his matter to be mentioned in the higher court later in March.

He was remanded in custody and excused from appearing in court at the next occasion if he was legally represented.

The man only spoke over the phone during the hearing to enter his pleas of guilt.

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