A Sydney cafe owner will spend at least 21 months in jail after enticing a young woman to his home for a wine tasting session and then sexually assaulting her.
On Friday, District Court Judge Jane Culver sentenced Aaron Troy Sweet, 45, after he pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally sexual touching a woman half his age without consent.
Repeatedly asked over for a glass of wine, the woman eventually agreed to a wine tasting session at Sweet's Ashfield home because she felt bad for rejecting him so often, Judge Culver said.
Although claiming the session on July 4, 2020 would involve a $400 bottle of wine, Sweet offered up his victim a $4 bottle of wine from Aldi.
Telling Sweet she needed to be home after 11.30pm, the pair had a shot of tequila just after 11pm. The woman then blacked out, and woke up naked having her back massaged by the cafe owner in his bed the following day.
"It's agreed that at the time of the offence, the victim was either asleep or unconscious. A victim who is not awake when an offence is perpetrated is particularly vulnerable in terms of being unable to resist the offence," Judge Culver said in the Downing Centre court.
Forensic analysis found DNA on the woman's genital area and on her clothing.
During phone calls with the victim's panicking mother, Sweet refused to hand over his address and lied first that the woman was in an Uber and then that she had been outside his home for two hours and was now in his spare bedroom.
"(These deceptions) had the effect of thwarting the retrieval of the victim by her mother given her mother knew that her daughter, the victim, was in a comprised or vulnerable state," the judge said.
He also lied directly to the victim, first telling her she had not wanted to go home and then months later during a bugged phone call in December 2020 claiming she had given him oral sex.
In handing down her sentence, Judge Culver took into account Sweet's previous conviction for two counts of rape in 2016. One of his victims was a 15-year old who had fallen asleep after he gave her vodka when the assault occurred.
Judge Culver viewed any expressions of remorse by Sweet for the current offence with scepticism because of his prior convictions.
"It is difficult for me to see, in light of the history confronting the court, that the offender has shifted in his sensibilities between the earlier offence and the current offence so as to lower his risk of reoffending."
Sweet's past was also taken into account, growing up through domestic violence in his family home and eventually becoming insecure, fearing rejection and feeling that he was defective or unlovable.
Sweet was sentenced to a maximum of 34 months in prison with a non-parole period of 21 months. Taking into account time already served, he will be eligible for parole on November 24.
The court also issued an apprehended personal violence order prohibiting Sweet from personally contacting the victim or assaulting, threatening, stalking or harassing her for five years.
