- Man who sexually assaulted girl in Sunshine bedroom jailed
- By Elissa Hunt, Kellie Cameron
- The Herald Sun
- 14/10/2008 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: The Rooster ( 264 articles in 2008 )
THE parents of a sex assault victim are angry her attacker avoided a heavy sentence because she was aged 10 - not nine - at the time.
Sunshine man Stephen Maurice, 32, broke into the sleeping child’s bedroom and sexually assaulted her as her sister slept on the bunk below.
He was jailed for at least 7 years in a sentence handed down today.
Maurice’s attack on the little girl, aged 10, has been described by a County Court judge as “offensive, repugnant and intolerable”.
But the Brimbank Leader reports that he court the maximum possible sentence for the sex offence would have been 25 years if the victim had been under 10.
The maximum sentence available if the victim is aged over 10 is 10 years’ jail.
The girls' parents have told Leader they are confused and angry with the seemingly arbitrary age limit that affected how long Maurice could be jailed.
Maurice, 32, removed a fly screen from the child’s bedroom window, entered the house and climbed the bunk’s ladder to reach her.
After the assault the girl woke her sister in a panic and told her parents, who thought it must have been a bad dream.
But her father noticed the fly screen had been removed the next morning and immediately called police.
Maurice claimed he had seen a teenage girl in the house and planned to molest her, telling a psychologist he didn’t realise his victim was a child until he began to assault her.
He said the idea of attacking a female in that way was “thrilling”, but the act did not live up to his expectations.
Judge Paul Lacava said it was particularly disturbing that Maurice planned to assault a woman of any age by breaking into her home in the middle of the night.
He said Maurice, who has no prior convictions, had “uncertain” prospects of rehabilitation.
Maurice, who lived near the victim, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and sexual penetration of a child under 16.
The victim’s family couldn’t live in the house after the attack and the incident had a catastrophic effect on them, the judge said.
Maurice, father to a young girl, had pleaded guilty.
Judge Lacava said if Maurice had not pleaded guilty the sentence would have been 12 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 10 years.
He jailed Maurice for 9 years with a minimum of 7 and ordered that he be put on the sex offender’s register.
Maurice was directed to undergo assessment and treatment under the sexual offenders treatment program.
Sunshine man Stephen Maurice, 32, broke into the sleeping child’s bedroom and sexually assaulted her as her sister slept on the bunk below.
He was jailed for at least 7 years in a sentence handed down today.
Maurice’s attack on the little girl, aged 10, has been described by a County Court judge as “offensive, repugnant and intolerable”.
But the Brimbank Leader reports that he court the maximum possible sentence for the sex offence would have been 25 years if the victim had been under 10.
The maximum sentence available if the victim is aged over 10 is 10 years’ jail.
The girls' parents have told Leader they are confused and angry with the seemingly arbitrary age limit that affected how long Maurice could be jailed.
Maurice, 32, removed a fly screen from the child’s bedroom window, entered the house and climbed the bunk’s ladder to reach her.
After the assault the girl woke her sister in a panic and told her parents, who thought it must have been a bad dream.
But her father noticed the fly screen had been removed the next morning and immediately called police.
Maurice claimed he had seen a teenage girl in the house and planned to molest her, telling a psychologist he didn’t realise his victim was a child until he began to assault her.
He said the idea of attacking a female in that way was “thrilling”, but the act did not live up to his expectations.
Judge Paul Lacava said it was particularly disturbing that Maurice planned to assault a woman of any age by breaking into her home in the middle of the night.
He said Maurice, who has no prior convictions, had “uncertain” prospects of rehabilitation.
Maurice, who lived near the victim, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and sexual penetration of a child under 16.
The victim’s family couldn’t live in the house after the attack and the incident had a catastrophic effect on them, the judge said.
Maurice, father to a young girl, had pleaded guilty.
Judge Lacava said if Maurice had not pleaded guilty the sentence would have been 12 years’ jail with a non-parole period of 10 years.
He jailed Maurice for 9 years with a minimum of 7 and ordered that he be put on the sex offender’s register.
Maurice was directed to undergo assessment and treatment under the sexual offenders treatment program.
Source: https://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24493998-2862,00.html
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