Monaro rape a 'rare' sexual assault that doesn't need jail time, judge claims

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault.

A judge has said the case of a man who raped a teenager in the Snowy Monaro two years ago was one of the “rare” sexual assaults that did not need a jail sentence.

Christian Memphis Brannen, who pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent, was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order by the NSW District Court earlier this month.

In 2021, the then-20-year-old was living in a farmhouse at Cootralantra, a rural locality west of Cooma.

He started to have consensual sex with the teenager before she told him “stop” several times and tried to push him away, but he didn’t stop for up to a couple of minutes.

Afterwards, she went outside and cried. The next day she met a friend and told her she had asked him to stop but he didn’t.

The teenager later had a conversation with Brannen over the social media application Snapchat.

“I didn’t want to keep going. I felt like you didn’t exactly listen to me,” she said.

“I thought that you said stop coz you needed a break,” he replied.

In another conversation, he told her: “Yeah, that’s my fault. I kinda accidentally got caught up in the moment”.

The teenager went to police in March 2022 and the man was arrested about three months later.

Judge Robyn Tupman said Brannen knew the teenager had withdrawn her consent but continued for a few minutes as “he accidentally got caught up in the moment”.

She accepted the assault appeared to have exacerbated the teenager’s pre-existing anxiety and depression.

But the judge said there was no evidence to indicate the man was aware the teenager had tried to push him away during the incident and the teenager had admitted she was not sure he heard her when she told him to stop.

“It is the experience of this court that very similar factual matters presided over in jury trials often result in acquittals,” she said.

She thought the seriousness of the offending was “very low” when compared to other offences that were subjected to the same charge.

Judge Tupman said Brannen, who is now aged 22 and works as a traffic controller, had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, had shown remorse from the day after the offence, had no prior criminal convictions, had good prospects of rehabilitation and was at a low risk of reoffending.

She said she had determined that due to the quite low objective seriousness of the offending, the lack of any aggravating factors, the presence of many mitigating factors, Brannen’s subjective circumstances and the need for a sentence to promote his ongoing rehabilitation that “this indeed is one of those rare cases” of sexual assault offences where something other than full-time custody was appropriate.

If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800RESPECT, the national domestic and sexual violence support service by calling 1800 737 732.

Help is also available at:

Lifeline’s 24-hour crisis support line – 13 11 14
Suicide Call Back Service – 1300 659 467
Kids Helpline – 1800 551 800
MensLine Australia – 1300 789 978.