By Mitchell Clarke
A drunk Narre Warren South man, who raped a woman in her own bed, has been jailed.
Silvester Sor, 26, was sentenced in the County Court on 3 December, charged with one count of rape.
The court heard Sor and his victim were known to each other and in early 2017, had been in a month-long casual relationship.
Once that ended, the pair remained friends and in July 2017 they partied together at a Ringwood nightclub with a group of friends.
Sor spent the night at his sober victim’s house, who woke at 7am to find him raping her.
Court documents reveal the victim yelled at him to “get off”, which prompted him to immediately stop and apologise, stating: “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was doing. You grabbed me like you wanted me”.
The visibly distraught victim reported the matter to police on the same day, after confiding to her friends.
Sor was arrested the next day.
According to court documents obtained by Star News, Sor told police he was intoxicated during the night, but by the time he went to bed, “he knew what he was doing”.
He knew she was asleep at the time of penetration, as she was lying still, with her arms by her side, court documents stated.
A remorseful Sor told police: “I can never forgive myself again … (I’m) hurt on the inside for what I’ve done to the poor girl … she’s probably traumatised”.
The court heard the crime left his victim “struggling to enjoy life”, and as a result, she suffers from depression, anxiety and panic attacks and nightmares.
In sentencing Judge Anne Hassan said rape was an “inherently serious offence”.
“It is always a crime which involves the violation of a person’s body and a person’s right to sexual and physical autonomy,” she said.
“Your offending involved a breach of trust. (The victim) was your friend. You were sleeping in her bed, in her home, because she trusted you and did not imagine that you would take advantage of her when she was asleep and vulnerable.
“The message must be sent that women set their own sexual boundaries and there is no situation where it is ok to disrespect or ignore another person’s right to sexual freedom and autonomy.”
However Judge Hassan said the incident was “very brief” and described it as “opportunistic, impulsive and not pre-meditated”.
She added that Sor had expressed shame for betraying and hurting his friend.
“It seems to me that you struggled with the enormity of what you have done, and its consequences, including the consequences for you and your future,” Judge Hassan said.
Character references provided to the court by Sor’s mother and partner described his offending as “out of character”.
A newspaper article, which labelled Sor as a “fiend” and allowed readers to publicly refer to him as a “mole, a rat and a scumbag”, caused some “unnecessary distress”, the court heard.
“You have committed a serious crime which is a legitimate topic of public discussion and which will inevitably attract some degree of public uproar,” Judge Hassan said.
Despite that, she said she would “allow some modest mitigation of sentence” in the exercise of her discretion.
Sor was sentenced to two years imprisonment and must serve one year before he is eligible for parole.
He was not placed on the sex offender registry.
