Stephen Sarmiento pleads guilty in ACT Magistrates Court to attempted rape charge

Stephen Sarmiento, 29, faced the ACT Magistrates Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted sexual intercourse without consent.

An agreed statement of facts shows Sarmiento committed the offence in February, after being introduced to the victim at Fact Bar during a night out.

He and the victim, who considered herself to be "tipsy", danced together and kissed a few times in the early hours of February 13.

Sarmiento asked the victim if she wanted to "hang out" afterwards and she said she was happy to, provided nothing sexual happened.

"She indicated this to him about four times," the agreed facts state.

"[Sarmiento] stated words to the effect of, 'We can talk or cuddle or something like that', which the victim agreed to."

The 29-year-old subsequently drove the victim, via the Braddon McDonald's drive-through, to his apartment in Phillip.

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At the apartment, the pair cuddled for a while before falling asleep.

The victim later woke up to the feeling of Sarmiento attempting to have sex with her.

She told him to stop, which he did after "about 10 seconds".

The victim subsequently got up, left the room where this had happened and texted the friend who had introduced her to Sarmiento to say she was leaving his home.

"I woke up to him trying to f---ing rape me," she wrote.

"What a c---."

After the woman ordered an Uber, Sarmiento tried to hug her and apologised by saying words to the effect of: "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

The victim replied: "That's not an excuse to sexually assault someone."

Sarmiento subsequently told the friend who had introduced him to the victim that he was "in trouble".

They had a 22-minute phone conversation, which the friend recorded.

Sarmiento told the friend he had been "on caps", which is a slang term for MDMA, and admitted touching the victim while she was sleeping.

When the friend told Sarmiento he was "honestly, like, raping her at that point", the 29-year-old replied: "Yeah."

Sarmiento also said he regretted his actions, adding that he was not proud of them.

The victim reported the attempted rape to ACT Policing the next day, and the matter was referred to the sexual assault and child abuse team for investigation.

Police offered Sarmiento the opportunity to participate in an interview in late May, but his solicitor advised investigators a week later that he would not do so.

After Sarmiento pleaded guilty to the attempted rape charge on Monday, prosecutors withdrew a further charge of committing an act of indecency without consent.

Magistrate Beth Campbell then committed Sarmiento to the ACT Supreme Court, where he will be sentenced at a later date, and placed him on bail.

Sarmiento's case is set to go before the superior court's registrar next Thursday.

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