Man found guilty of stealthing sex worker in brothel

CONTENT WARNING: This story refers to rape.

Jurors have found a Canberra man guilty of assaulting a sex worker following his nearly week-long Supreme Court trial.

In December 2021, Aleksandar Ivanovski arrived at a Canberra brothel and engaged a sex worker.

When his trial started on Monday (17 February), jurors heard that the victim said Ivanovski had asked if he could “f–k [her] raw” at the start of their booking.

She refused and told him a condom would need to be worn.

In her interview with police, played to the court, she said he initially agreed to wear a condom but saw him bending down to pick the condom up from the floor at the end of the session.

She accused him of stealthing her, a term that refers to the removal of a condom without a sexual partner’s consent, which he denied.

In his closing submissions, Ivanovski’s defence lawyer, Joshua Nottle, told jurors the victim’s belief that she had been stealthed was held “genuinely but mistakenly” and that she had not seen him removing the condom.

Jurors deliberated for almost three days before finding Ivanovski guilty of one count of sexual intercourse without consent on Friday (21 February).

As the verdict was read, Ivanovski could be seen closing his eyes.

After the verdict, prosecutor Tamzin Lee sought to have Ivanovski held in custody until sentencing.

Mr Nottle said his client had “appeared [in court] every time he’s been required to” during the matter, asking the court to continue.

Justice John Burns continued bail, with Ivanovski required to report to police twice a week and to stay at a Queanbeyan address.

He will next appear in court on 26 May.

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, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.

You can also submit an online report about a historical sexual assault allegation for incidents that occurred more than six months ago.