CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to child abuse.A man who sexually abused five young girls after approaching most of them over social media has been labelled a “sexual predator with a clear taste for minors” by the father of one of his victims.
Samuel John Doughty admitted indecently assaulting a 13-year-old as well as raping one 12 or 13-year-old, two 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old between 2016 and 2021.
He was aged between 18 and 24 at the time.
“What he did to me has changed my life forever,” one of the girls wrote in a statement read to the ACT Supreme Court at his sentencing hearing on Tuesday (12 December).
“He took something away from me that I can never get back.”
The girl had been left with sometimes debilitating anxiety, difficulty sleeping and had become withdrawn and socially isolated.
“No one deserves to have to deal with the life-long trauma this man has caused,” her mother wrote in a statement.
Doughty was driving the first girl home, whom he had met through a mutual friend, when he demanded she have sex with him as payment for taking her there.
She told him no, but he still raped her in the car.
Doughty sent a friend request over the social media application Facebook to the second girl, even though her young age was clearly displayed on her account, and asked her to have sex with him.
She deleted his messages but began talking to him later over another social media app, Snapchat.
When she asked him to buy her and her friend alcohol, he repeatedly asked her for sex in return for the drinks. She felt pressured into doing so and he subsequently raped her.
Doughty sent the third girl a friend request over Snapchat. She found him to be very aggressive when she spoke to him, and at one stage, he took a photo of her school and sent it to her.
She had the Snapmaps feature enabled on her account, which allows a user’s location to be seen by other users. He used this to track her down at a shopping centre.
He convinced her to come to his car, then locked the doors and drove away despite her protests. He took her to a remote street and raped her in his car while she was frozen with fear.
But unbeknownst to him, this girl’s mother had become concerned about where her daughter had gone and also used the location services on her phone to track her to the street. She arrived to find him assaulting her in the car.
She pulled her out while he tried to drive away. “That is my child you are having sex with,” the mother told him.
“That is illegal and you know can be classed as rape?” He sped off.
Doughty initially messaged the fourth girl over Instagram then tried to convince her to get into his car when they met up, but she refused. He indecently assaulted her on a street despite her telling him to stop.
Lastly, he messaged the fifth girl over Snapchat, then called out to her when he saw her at a shopping centre.
He convinced her to go for a drive, took her to an isolated area then raped her, even though she told him to stop.
Justice Louise Taylor said he was significantly older than the girls and he used this age difference to convince or exploit them.
While Doughty had described how disgusting he feels about the offences, he had also claimed he thought two of his victims were over the age of 16, which the judge thought appeared to be an attempt at minimisation.
When prosecutor Morgan Howe said the offences involved “predatory conduct”, Justice Taylor said she didn’t think there was any doubt about that.
Doughty had already been in custody for 525 days by the time of his sentencing hearing, and his lawyer, Edward Chen from Legal Aid, said he had done everything he could while behind bars to show he was willing and able to rehabilitate.
He also said something had changed in his client, partly because he had been publicly denounced.
The now-26-year-old from Calwell, a thin man with short, greying hair, will be sentenced on 20 December.
“Sam,” a woman called at him from the courtroom’s gallery while he was being led away by guards after the sentencing hearing ended, but he didn’t appear to respond.
He has pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse with a young person, as well as to a single count of committing an act of indecency on a young person.
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 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
Agree CR, the National Anthem is fingernails down a blackboard View