A rapist Canberra publican has been jailed for nearly a decade over what a judge has described as extraordinary sexual violations of his then-partners.
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"All women have the right to feel safe in their domestic relationships," Justice John Burns told Joshua Leemhuis in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon.
"Like all members of the community, they have the right to have their physical integrity respected."
Leemhuis, who co-owns two licensed venues including the George Harcourt Inn, was fronting court via video link from the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
The 36-year-old sat with his head bowed for almost the entire hour-and-a-half Justice Burns took to sentence him to nine years and 10 months behind bars.
The judge imposed a non-parole period of five years and 10 months.
Leemhuis, who has already spent more than a year in custody, pleaded guilty in March to 22 charges that stemmed from 18 different incidents.
He admitted filming himself repeatedly sexually assaulting one "heavily unconscious" then-partner roughly a decade ago.
Leemhuis also took pictures of the vulnerable woman and occasionally turned his cameras on himself in order to make comments and wink, among other things.
The victim had no idea what had occurred until last year, when her mother discovered videos and pictures of the harrowing incidents as she looked through old camera memory cards to back up family photos.
On Tuesday, Justice Burns said the cause of this victim's unconsciousness in the videos was not entirely clear.
But he said there was no doubt Leemhuis knew she was in no position to consent to sexual activity, and that the 36-year-old had shown little or no concern that she might wake up and discover what was happening.
The judge referred to the woman's powerful victim impact statement, which she read to the court in May.
It spoke of years worth of intense psychological and emotional abuse, and the woman's belief that Leemhuis' need to control her was at the core of who he was.
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Justice Burns said the woman, who was unable to imagine any greater breach of trust, should have felt safe and protected by her intimate partner in her own home.
"Instead of being safe, she was being raped and filmed," the judge said.
Leemhuis' more recent crimes were committed against another sexual partner, of whom he secretly took nude photographs.
Justice Burns said the 36-year-old had uploaded a number of these to an amateur pornography website without consent, while the publican had also emailed some of them to another man.
He said this victim had told the court of how she had found this humiliating and degrading.
This offending was also discovered years after the fact, when police investigating the rapes seized a USB drive from Leemhuis and found pictures saved in a folder bearing the pornography site's name.
MORE COVERAGE OF THIS CASE:
In sentencing, Justice Burns said Leemhuis' crimes were degrading, premeditated to some extent, and made possible by extraordinary and egregious breaches of trust.
He said a variety of factors seemed to have combined over time to skew Leemhuis' moral compass and lessen the man's impulse control, but the publican was well aware during his offending that it was wrong.
The judge indicated he was satisfied Leemhuis felt some level of remorse, though he believed the publican had occasionally demonstrated a tendency to make whatever statements might be perceived well.
He added that both victims had suffered a great deal of harm, and would no doubt continue to feel the effects of Leemhuis' crimes for the rest of their lives.
Justice Burns ultimately imposed the lengthy jail sentence, which he backdated to the date of Leemhuis' arrest and incarceration in June last year.
With time already served, the 36-year-old will become eligible for parole in April 2026.
Leemhuis' victims have given media outlets written consent to name the man even though some people will be aware of their identities as a result.
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