A COVID-19 contact tracer who posed as a health inspector and threatened to deport a Melbourne woman unless she performed sexual acts on him has been jailed, but could be free in less than year.
WARNING: This story contains details that may distress some audience members.
Abdulfatah Awow, 26, appeared in the County Court where he was sentenced to three years and six months behind bars over the offending in July last year, which ultimately caused his victim, who held a student visa, never to return to Victoria.
Awow has already served 376 days behind bars and with time served, can apply for parole in just over 11 months.
Judge Angela Ellis described Awow's behaviour as "predatory" and "unsavoury".
"You told her that if she made you happy, you would lie to protect her, so she would not be deported back to Taiwan," the judge said.
"Your intention upon entry was to assault the victim by way of producing a sexual act from her by fraudulent means."
Perpetrator lied to gain access to victim's bedroom
At the time of his offending, Awow was working at a call centre which was contracted by the Department of Health to perform contact tracing at the height of the pandemic.
Awow was on shift when he called his victim, who was isolating in a share house after visiting her sister in New South Wales.
At the time, New South Wales was declared a red zone by the Andrews government, which meant only people with an exception, an exemption or a workers' permit could re-enter Victoria.
The County Court heard that after the phone call, which was made at 6:37pm, Awow took a picture of the woman's personal details.
At 8:45pm, he called the woman from his personal mobile phone and pretended to be a health inspector.
"You told her that there had been a change in government policy as a result of the increase in cases in Victoria on that date," Judge Ellis said.
"You told her that you would need to come and check her room."
The court heard Awow then travelled to his victim's address in Burwood and conned his way into her home.
He then asked to see her bedroom which was where he tried to coerce her into performing sexual acts on him, which his victim refused.
The County Court heard that the woman then told Awow to leave, but he continued pressuring her.
"You told [her] that she was not complying with the isolation requirements and that she could get into a lot of trouble," the judge said.
"You told [her] that other girls you had checked on had co-operated with your requests to avoid breaching the law.
"You continued to make comments to her including, 'This is your decision' and 'You have to think carefully'."
Victim too scared to sleep at home
Awow then asked his victim to open a translator app and tried to use it to coerce her.
"You make me happy and I will lie for you and no-one needs to know and you will be protected," the court heard he wrote.
The court heard that when the woman's boyfriend called, he kept up the charade and told the man that his girlfriend was breaching public health orders.
Awow eventually left, but not before the victim snapped a photo of him.
Judge Ellis said the crime had a profound impact on the victim and she was too scared to sleep at home that night.
"She eventually took an Uber to a city hotel and stayed there for a number of nights before flying to Sydney," the judge said.
The woman has since developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
"She feels very insecure, so much so, that she had to move away from Melbourne, her home for nine years," Judge Ellis said.
"She is scared of walking on the street, frequently becomes tearful, has trouble sleeping and wakes up with nightmares."
Awow was arrested about a month later and claimed he took it upon himself to go to her house because he did not know how much authority he had.
"I find your attempts to excuse your behaviour quite implausible," Judge Ellis said.
"You took advantage of the position that you were in to access the victim's personal details. This amounts to a gross breach of trust placed in you by your employer.
"You were privy to personal information provided by the public, who were entitled to believe that in doing so, their private details would not be misused."
He ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and attempting to procure a sexual act by threat.
The court heard that Awow was previously convicted of similar offending.
In 2018, he let a friend use his phone to log into her Facebook account but once he realised she had not logged out, he sent photographs to her with a caption, saying: "Look what I found, these photos may end up somewhere else."
