Woman found videos in partner’s inbox of herself being raped while asleep, court hears
Suspecting her fiance was cheating on her, a Melbourne woman logged into his email account. There she found videos of him raping her as she slept, prosecutors have told the Victorian county court.
The man she trusted in a relationship for more than two years has admitted raping her seven times and sexually assaulting her 21 times without her knowledge.
A 34-year-old carpenter and father of two, he cannot be identified.
He pleaded guilty on Monday to three charges of sexual assault and two charges of rape. He will be sentenced as a serious sexual offender.
Prosecutors told the county court the woman discovered nine emails sent between her partner’s personal and work emails, each showing him sexually offending against her while she was asleep.
She could identify herself from her tattoos.
In the early hours of 19 September 2020, the man touched her, undressed her and raped her.
He filmed himself assaulting her again that night and into the next morning as she slept, and again on 17 October 2020.
Some of the videos the woman found were short, lasting only seconds. One went for nearly 12 minutes.
She described feeling significant hurt and disgust that someone she was in a relationship with had betrayed her to such an extent and frustrated that she didn’t know what was happening.
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The woman felt violated and ashamed, she said, acknowledging the unfairness of her feelings because she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“I have no idea how I am supposed to trust anyone in an intimate relationship again in future,” she said.
The woman also described her grief at lost relationships with her attacker’s children and extended family, people she had come to think of as her own family.
A pre-sentence hearing for the man is continuing.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123.Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org