Abuse of drunk girl

Guilty man avoids a jail term

A MAN has avoided jail for sexual abuse after he got a 16-year-old girl drunk on whisky and ignored her attempts to push him away.

Aranea Dawn Sykes Natale appeared in the Supreme Court of Tasmania before judge Gregory Geason after pleading guilty to two counts of penetrative sexual abuse of a young person and one count of indecent dealing with a young person.

Justice Geason said the girl and her friends gave Natale money early last year to buy them alcoholic drinks.

The group had their drinks in a public park, where Natale sat next to the girl.

“Despite her indicating that your advances were not welcome, you told her she was cute,” Justice Geason said.

“You began touching her on the shoulder and on her upper thigh.

“When you attempted to touch her near her vagina, on the outside of her clothing, she pushed your hand away.

“She told you she wanted to go home, and you said you would take her.”

But Natale stopped on the way to buy more alcohol, opening the girl’s drink for her.

“Once inside the house, she recalls being sick, and then being in your bedroom where she collapsed on your bed,” Justice Geason said.

Natale put his mouth on her genitalia, before putting his genitalia inside her mouth, inserting a finger inside her and proceeding to have sex with her. She tried to push him away.

After the girl reported the incident to police, Natale told police he had thought she was 17.

Because the victim was three months away from the age of consent, the psychiatric report found no suggestion Natale had a sexual interest in children.

The justice said Natale’s early plea lessened his sentence, and described the case as “a grave error of judgment by someone who has not previously transgressed in this way”.

He sentenced Natale to six months’ imprisonment, suspending the sentence for three years, and made a 12-month community supervision order requiring Natale to attend an addiction program.