Judge hits back after rape story
A SUPREME Court judge said he did not “intend to diminish” the seriousness of partner rape, following backlash to comments he made during a rape case.
During sentencing hearings, Acting Justice David Porter said the rape was likely to be less serious than a stranger leaping out from behind a bush or a nightclub drug rape.
The comments were condemned by women’s groups, following reporting by the Mercury.
However Justice Porter said he had not intended to diminish the general seriousness of relationship rape, but to highlight two examples which “might” be considered more serious.
Justice Porter said he took issue with reporting in the Mercury because the article did not include the full context to his comments.
“Regrettably, I need to say something about sentencing in general and, in particular, the approach to sentencing for the crime of rape,” Justice Porter said.
“I say ‘regrettably’, because the need to set out these things has arisen from a brief and incomplete media report of the sentencing
hearing, and the criticisms that seem to have flowed from that report.”
Justice Porter said his comments were made during a discussion of the prior relationship of the man and woman, and whether or not this was a mitigating or aggravating factor.
“In the hearing, as was reported, counsel for the accused submitted that there is a significant distinction between rape between two people who do not know each other or have not been in a relationship, and a situation where there was consensual sexual activity going on after separation as a couple.
“Later, counsel said that this is a ‘different kind of rape than the more serious kinds of rape that can happen’.
“What was not reported was that at the time, I did not accept that prior consensual sexual activity between the parties was a mitigating factor. I spoke of what might aggravate the crime of rape generally.
“As was reported, I made a comment to the fact that there could be circumstances of greater aggravation than the present type of situation and gave two examples involving strangers that might be generally regarded as more serious.
“Those comments were made in the context of the submissions on mitigation and aggravation, and I did not intend them to be conclusive or definitive.
“By those remarks I did not intend to diminish the general level of seriousness of rape in a relationship.”
Also, Justice Porter said he’d accepted the prosecution’s case that partner rape was not necessarily less serious than stranger rape, and said each case depended on its own facts.
For this particular case, Justice Porter said there was a “abuse of the trust inherent in domestic relationships” as well as that of controlling behaviour.