A repeat sex offender who laughed after raping a girl with a disability, leaving her with constant nightmares and feeling powerless since the ordeal, will most likely be deported once he is released from jail.
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Habib Atai, 27, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Friday when he was sentenced to 27 months in jail after a judge-alone trial found him guilty of two counts of indecent acts and one count each of sexual intercourse without consent and attempted sexual intercourse without consent.
The judgment by Justice David Mossop states that in January last year, Atai met the victim via a friend at a Canberra shopping centre before driving her to his apartment where he tried to have sex with her, then forced her to perform oral sex.
At the apartment, Atai tried to touch her, saying words to the effect of "come on, you got me hard" before grabbing her hand and putting it on his penis.
Atai then told her "oh, let's go" and "just let's do it" before getting on top of her on a mattress where he tried to kiss her.
After they got up, he exposed his penis to her before trying to have sex with her.
During the offending, she kept telling him numerous times to stop, including "I don't want you to do that" and "get off me".
She was then dropped off in Tuggeranong. After telling family and friends, she went to the police.
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In his evidence during trial, the offender, who had worked as a tailor and hairdresser, said via an interpreter: "I was single and I felt sorry for the girl."
The victim's father, who described her as special due to her having a disability, also gave evidence and said when she told him, he saw a bruise on her neck and hands.
A DNA analysis of the victim's shirt showed that Atai "could not be excluded as a contributor".
In court on Friday, Crown prosecutor Skye Jerome read out the victim impact statement.
"I have developed deep feelings of depression and anxiety that make me feel like I can't live life to my full potential," the statement reads.
"I've had trouble sleeping and I've had nightmares of what you did to me. This occurs almost every night."
The court heard the victim was left feeling "powerless over my life".
"I lost trust in myself, I lost my confidence and motivation to do the things I love," she wrote.
Justice David Mossop described the offending as a "clear disregard for the autonomy of the victim" and involved exploitation, degradation and humiliation.
"Obviously of concern is the attitude of the offender to sexual offending as disclosed in the pre-sentence report," Justice Mossop said.
He said the indecent act would have been less serious if not for the lead-up to it, which included the offender exerting physical constraint, adding there was a "clear lack of consent".
The judge said Atai had not expressed remorse nor empathy for the victim.
The court heard he had an above average risk of sexual reoffending and he was already serving a jail term for previously raping another young person, as well as for breaching a violence order.
Based on the Migration Act, the Iranian-born offender would likely have his visa cancelled and be deported after jail.
With a non-parole period of 16 months and with his jail term being backdated to January this year to account for his pre-sentence custody, Atai will be eligible for release in May 2022.
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