Man dodges conviction, fined $2500 after sexual assault

A BUFFALO River man has avoided a conviction, after he sexually assaulted a female friend while she was driving through the Wangaratta CBD earlier this year. Facing Wangaratta Magistrates' Court last week, the accused pleaded guilty to charges he grabbed the breasts of a female friend without consent after she had picked him up from a drinking session in Wangaratta with friends in March. Police had initially refused to downgrade the charge to an unlawful assault, with the court hearing the accused reached across and grabbed his victim's breasts as she drove along Murphy Street, before offering to pay her to expose herself. The incident was later reported to police, with the accused offering partial admissions to the offending during a police interview in April. Police prosecutor Sergeant Stuart Pritchard said the accused had expressed remorse, and had told police "apart from being drunk there's no excuse for it". Defence counsel Geoff Clancy said his client had not shied away from the offending, however, urged Magistrate Ian Watkins not to impose a conviction due to the 20–year–old's relatively clean criminal record. "He understands his behaviour fell well short of what's acceptable," he said. Magistrate Watkins said the matter would have been "doomed to fail" if the accused had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault in an effort to see the charge downgraded. "In my view the plea was entirely appropriate," he said. "It was appalling behaviour towards a woman who counted you as a friend." Mr Watkins said years of messaging around respect for women had "clearly had no impact" on the accused, who he said needed to address his drinking behaviour. He refrained from convicting the accused, instead placing him on a promise to be of good behaviour and ordering him to contribute $2500 to the court fund to be donated to local charities.

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