Warrnambool man accepts sentence indication over sex assault

Blair Oakley, 24, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Thursday for what was anticipated to be a one-and-a-half day contested hearing.

But the man pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault after accepting a sentence indication of four months' jail.

Oakley, who appeared via video-link from his home, had served 39 days in custody on remand before being released on bail last year.

Those days were counted as time served and he was ordered to surrender himself to the courthouse immediately in order to complete the remainder of his sentence.

The offending occurred in April last year when Oakley and the then 18-year-old female victim were at a birthday party for a mutual friend.

They later attended a residential property with a group of people from the same party.

The court heard the man grabbed the victim around her legs, back and neck without her consent.

He then touched her under her clothes, she yelled out and then ran away.

Oakley was arrested outside a commercial business just before midnight.

The offending contravened an extensive community correction order, which Oakley was placed on after he bashed another man unconscious in an alcohol-fuelled attack.

In a victim impact statement read to the court on Friday, the victim said the sexual assault left her feeling "scared, damaged, abused, used, lonely, controlled and ashamed".

She said she rarely left the house, often suffering panic attacks when she did.

She said when she walked past young men with facial hair, she was scared she would be sexually assaulted again.

Following the incident, the victim had trouble sleeping and required medication.

"I had just started living my life prior to this incident," she said, stating she'd just graduated school, started a full-time job was enjoying freedom.

"Now I spend my days at home alone," the victim said.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Angela Fitzgerald said the woman's attendance on Thursday was the first time she'd returned to the region since the sexual assault.

She said the offending "clearly had a profound impact on her".

Magistrate Franz Holzer said the victim was a young person who would continue to suffer significantly.

He said Oakley's compliance with his correction order was not good and he wouldn't be afforded another opportunity at a community-based sentence.

The magistrate said he suspected Oakley had minimised alcohol as a concern in his life, and as a feature of his criminality it was something he would need to address.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.

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