Man sentenced for sexually assaulting his former partner

The 32-year-old man was planning to contest the charges of sexual assault and unlawful assault, but pleaded guilty after hearing the magistrate's sentence indication.

The court heard the woman was at the man's property on April 10 after dropping off their children for a visit.

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She was inside the shed when he entered and jammed the door shut with a roll of duct tape.

The children were outside playing in the backyard at the time.

The court heard the man was intoxicated as he came up behind the woman and grabbed her.

The man forced her pants and underwear down and slapped her on her naked bottom.

She tried to pull away, but he grabbed her again to grope her breasts and try to take off her bra.

The woman continued to try and get away from the man but he pulled her back towards him another two times, yanking down her pants and slapping her naked bottom.

She was crying and begging him to stop throughout the incident.

The court heard the woman was eventually able to exit the shed.

She left the property with two of her children, while the remaining two stayed at the man's house under the care of their grandmother.

The man drove the two children back to the woman's house about 7.15pm that night.

He was clearly intoxicated as he grabbed her from behind while she was trying to get one of her children ready for bed. The woman fell on her child as a result of him grabbing her.

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The man then went and played with the other children, before he became aggressive and scared them.

The woman ordered him to leave the property but he raised his fist at her several times and pushed her into a brick wall.

He also threw a garden gnome at her before she was able to call the police.

Officers arrived and arrested the man, who was found yelling and swearing in the backyard.

The man was interviewed after he had some time to sober up. He denied the assault but admitted to going to the woman's house.

The court heard the man was released on bail, but was subsequently remanded in custody for 30 days after he contravened a family violence order by sending his former partner threatening messages.

Defence lawyer Luke Docherty told the court the man was currently serving a community corrections order for those charges.

Mr Docherty said a plea would have great utilitarian value as the woman and her children would not need to give evidence in court.

The defence lawyer said the man had already served 30 days in jail, which the magistrate could consider as part of the sentence.

Magistrate Russell Kelly said if the man had not already spent time in jail, he would have been looking at a longer prison term.

Mr Kelly said he would take into account the 30 days the man had spent in custody.

The magistrate said the man's guilty plea saved an "ugly, awful" contested hearing.

The man was convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order with 200 hours of community work.

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