An Esperance man who sexually assaulted his best friend’s teenage daughter has been sentenced to three and a half years’ imprisonment.
The offender engaged in sexual acts against the 15-year-old on more than one occasion in 2023 while she was asleep at her family home.
He was found guilty of five counts of indecent deals of a child and one count of sexually penetrating a child.
The offender, who was 47 at the time, was the only adult at the victim’s home on the night he first assaulted her.
The victim was violated a second time in similar circumstances.
Dressed in a black suit, the offender sat expressionless in the dock in Esperance while he watched the legal proceedings unfold in Perth via video link.
Prosecutor Clare Runciman who was in the court room in Perth told the judge the offender could not show he had rehabilitated himself.
“The State notes the offender has not shown any remorse,” Ms Runciman said.
District Court Judge Alan Laurence Troy considered the offender’s long-standing friendship with the victim’s family, calling it a “significant breach of trust”.
He called his actions “aggravated” and said the second incident was “premeditated to an extent”.
“She was vulnerable. She was trapped and defenceless,” Judge Troy said in court.
“You demonstrably committed two sexual offences against a 15-year-old.
“The only possible sentence is a term of immediate imprisonment.”
Judge Troy said the offender had no mitigation of good character because he had prior convictions, though unrelated.
The victim’s family were in tears as they left the Esperance court room.
The offender will be eligible to apply for parole in January 2027.
