A former Army sergeant who raped a woman in a drunken attack in her Civic hotel room has been sentenced to two years full-time prison and 12 months weekend detention.
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Geoffrey William Joyce, 31, was drunk and celebrating on his 30th birthday weekend with friends during a night out in Civic in March 2012.
Joyce was visiting Canberra from interstate, but lost his friends during his night out.
His phone battery went dead, meaning he was stranded without the address of the home he was supposed to sleep at.
Joyce came across the victim outside a Civic pub, and both were heavily intoxicated.
The woman invited him back to her hotel room to use her phone charger.
But once inside the room, Joyce betrayed her trust.
He was found guilty of pushing her to the bed, forcibly undressing and raping her, while also slapping her in the face.
Joyce continued the attack despite her pleas for him to stop.
The sergeant completely denied the charges, saying he had left the hotel room after the woman made unwelcome sexual advances.
He said the first he knew about it was when a story about the investigation popped up in the media.
A jury rejected his story in December last year, finding him guilty of two counts of rape and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm with intent.
Justice Hilary Penfold sentenced Joyce to four years and six months imprisonment, to be served by two years full time prison, followed by 12 months periodic detention.
“Rape is a particularly nasty kind of violation of a person's privacy and physical integrity perhaps especially where, as here, it involves an abuse of a stranger's trust," Justice Penfold said.
She found Joyce's day and night of heavy drinking played a role in the crime.
"The actions of Mr Joyce must have been, to a significant degree, the product of his intoxication," she said.
Joyce has no criminal history, and was spoken highly of by his military colleagues, friends and family, who said the offence was out of character.
He has lost his job with the army, and the prison sentence would greatly impact his relationship with his partner and a six month old daughter, the court heard.
"This appears to be a one-off incident in an otherwise blameless life," Justice Penfold said.
But she found Joyce had not expressed any remorse, and still maintained his innocence.
Justice Penfold also acknowledged the great harm the crime had on the victim, forcing her to move away from Canberra.
The victim has already told of the toll the crime had on her and her family, and how she wished she could "erase the pain" from their hearts.
"When I look at my loved ones, the sadness in their eyes weighs heavily on my heart," the victim wrote.
"I'm not the same little girl they once knew."
The sentencing of Joyce was delayed for about a month after Corrective Services refused to conduct a brief pre-sentence report with the offender, which would have told the court whether he was suitable for weekend detention.
The organisation insisted it could only conduct a longer form report, due to the seriousness of the charge and the lack of information it had about his future living arrangements.
Justice Penfold criticised that approach and the delays they caused on Wednesday.
Joyce will also be put on a 30 month good behaviour order following the end of his full-time imprisonment.
