A father of adult and teenaged children who three times violently raped his wife will return to court later this month for his sentence to be decided.
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The 56-year-old, who the court has ordered must be referred to as ''Burgess''*, pleaded guilty to three counts of raping his partner of more than 15 years when he appeared in the County Court sitting in Bendigo on May 10.
The charges, which all related to anal rapes, occurred in Bendigo in October 2007, November 2007 and December 2009.
The court heard Burgess' first crime happened after a housewarming party when he and his wife, dubbed ''Kirk"* by the court, had initially been having consensual sex.
Burgess then became intent on having anal sex with Ms Kirk and started forcefully pushing and shoving her.
Terrified, she had given in, and lay face down on a pillow, crying.
In the second incident, soon after, he came home around 10pm to find Ms Kirk reading a book and told her he wanted her to "make him come".
When she asked why, Burgess replied, "Because I've got a knife".
Stunned and terrified to find he was holding a steak knife, Ms Kirk remained silent and did exactly what was asked of her.
The third rape occurred on Christmas Eve after Ms Kirk had come home from having drinks with a neighbour and lain on the floor.
Burgess spoke to her angrily then raped her in a fast and aggressive manner, the court heard.
After seeking support, Ms Kirk left her husband
In September 2018, after seeking support from local sexual violence support organisations CASA and the Centre for Non Violence, Ms Kirk left Burgess.
The following month she made a statement to Bendigo Police about his crimes.
The court heard her estranged husband sent her several text messages over the next few years, including one in June 2021 which read: "I'm happy for you to have the house if you don't have me charged".
In another message, Burgess told Ms Kirk he loved her and suggested the "horrible things" he had done to her might have been due to his own past abuse.
In August 2022 he was arrested.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Ms Kirk said the violent crimes committed against her by the person supposed to protect and care for her had "a huge rippling effect throughout [her] life".
Burgess had been controlling and left her "walking on eggshells", she said.
"When I was still with him I used to feel sick at the thought of the kids not being there ... if it was just him and me," she said.
She wanted to be "bright and bubbly", Ms Kirk said, but had been left with complex post traumatic stress disorder and was "just about dead inside".
Burgess believed to have committed two more sexual crimes
The court heard Burgess had committed another two sexual crimes in 2021 while he was a patient in Bendigo's Adult Prevention and Recovery Care mental health facility, for which he had been sentenced to a period of imprisonment.
Defence counsel Glenn Cooper argued his client's offending happened in the context of his bipolar mental health diagnosis and that he was remorseful about what he had done.
Burgess, who had been subject to significant childhood disadvantage including abuse, had pleaded guilty at an early opportunity, sparing the family the distress of a trial and should be sentenced to a shorter non-parole period, he submitted.
However, Crown prosecutor David Cordy told the court Burgess qualified as a serious sexual offender under the provisions of the Sentencing Act and was "a danger to the sexual safety of members of the community".
As a serious sexual offender, the penalties for his rapes - which carry a maximum of 25 years jail each - would by default be served chronologically, rather than concurrently, Mr Cordy said, and the sentence should "above all else" prioritise the protection of the community.
Burgess is due back in court on May 30.
(* not their real names)
For help:
If someone is in immediate danger, call 000.
Safe Steps 24-hour crisis line on 1800 015 188
Centre for Non-violence FREE CALL: 1800 884 292
CASA Centre Against Sexual Assault crisis line 1800 806 292
Men's Referral service - 1300 766 491 (to discuss your own or someone else's behaviour)
Victorian Sexual Assault Crisis Line 1800 806 292 (after hours response service)
