Rapist wrote on woman's body before assaults

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.

A woman who survived a sexual assault in a Canberra carpark said her abuser had also used a permanent marker to write over her body, including his name and phone number, like she was “a piece of property”.

“I froze on that night and I still feel frozen almost three years later,” the survivor of Marquis Monte Rex Mack’s attack wrote in a statement for the ACT Supreme Court.

“This offence has left me feeling empty inside, as if every part of me had been stripped away in a matter of minutes by a man I had never met before.”

While she was still a teenager, she and her friends had gone out to bars and nightclubs in Canberra’s City one evening in December 2021 when she met the then-19-year-old Mack, who introduced himself as ‘Kees’.

When he led her off to a carpark, 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.

While there was some consensual sexual activity between the pair, Mack forcefully orally raped the woman, ignoring her even though she asked him to stop. He then also raped her while holding her against a wall, telling her to be quiet so others walking nearby wouldn’t hear them.

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

In her written statement, she told the court that the emotional and psychological impacts of Mack’s crime began during the assault, then the negative feelings grew stronger as the years went on.

“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.

“Physically walking away after the offence hurt. Sitting with the police as I reported the offence hurt. The most painful moment of that night was excessively scrubbing my skin to erase the permanent marker extending from my chest to my knees.

“I scrubbed my skin for an hour until the marker was replaced with almost raw skin.”

Mack spent 17 days in custody before he faced the Supreme Court for his sentencing hearing on Friday (14 June) and sat in the court’s dock with his head hung low for much of the proceedings.

Prosecutor David Swan argued he had inflicted “significant sexual violence” against a young woman in a vulnerable position, including despite her “direct, pointed protests”. The offending occurred over one hour and there was “absolutely no doubt” he knew she was not consenting during the second rape, the prosecutor said.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said it appeared the survivor had “suffered greatly” due to the impacts of the crime.

Defence barrister James Sabharwal said from reading a letter written by his client’s mother, it was difficult to fathom his behaviour on the night of the assault.

His family remained supportive of him, the barrister said.

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

The now-22-year-old will be sentenced on 5 July.

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 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. 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.