A paranoid schizophrenic parolee who raped a woman in her bedroom while drunk and on drugs has been jailed for three years.
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In July an ACT Supreme Court jury found Daniel Lewis Buda-Kaa guilty of having sexual intercourse with the woman without her consent.
He was also convicted on two counts of committing acts of indecency on her.
In May last year the 23-year-old let himself in through the woman’s unlocked laundry.
He had been celebrating his birthday and had consumed drugs including LSD, methamphetamines and prescription medication.
Buda-Kaa had known the woman for a number of years, and the court heard he went to her house in the hopes of having sex with her.
The man climbed into bed with the sleeping woman, who at first thought he was one of her children.
Buda-Kaa then assaulted the woman in her bed.
The defendant later broke down when describing the incident to the author of a pre-sentence report, saying he “misread” their relationship.
He said regretted his crimes, and realised they amounted to a breach of trust.
In a victim impact statement tendered in court the woman spoke of her inability to trust others as a result.
“As a consequence of your crimes the complainant had to move house, resulting in inconvenience and financial loss,” Justice John Burns said on Friday.
At the time of the offence Buda-Kaa was on parole, having been released from custody just a month earlier after spending 15 months locked up for burglary and theft.
The judge said Buda-Kaa had a “significant” criminal history, and said the fact he was on parole was an aggravating factor.
He also noted the sexual assault was a breach of trust committed in the victim’s own home – further aggravating features.
Justice John Burns took into account the fact Buda-Kaa suffered a serious mental illness, one which would make prison a tougher ordeal.
But he did not accept that the man’s mental health had any bearing on his state of mind at the time of the crime, and said his medication regime meant the condition could be managed behind bars.
He jailed Buda-Kaa for three years, backdated to take into account time served, with a non-parole period expiring in November next year.
