A Launceston man has been jailed for raping two 15-year-old girls he met on social media, after a judge rejected his bid to serve the sentence at home.
Scott Millane Connell, 26, was found guilty by a jury of two counts of rape over separate incidents in 2018, when he was 18.
The Supreme Court of Tasmania heard Connell contacted both girls online before meeting them in person.
In the first incident, around July 31, 2018, he picked up a girl and drove to a location where they smoked cannabis.
She fell asleep at his home and woke to find he was assaulting her. He stopped when she asked him to.
About three months later, on October 6, 2018, Connell went to the home of a second girl and assaulted her in a similar way, again stopping when she told him to.
Neither girl knew the other. Both went to police in 2018 but decided against formal complaints at the time.
It was not until 2022 that the first victim made a full statement, which prompted police to approach the second girl.
Justice Robert Pearce said rape was “an inherently serious crime”.
“Any act of non-consensual penetration constitutes invasion of the bodily integrity of the victim and is thus objectively serious, irrespective of the form and the extent of the penetration,” he said.
The court heard that, in both cases, Connell assaulted the girls with his fingers.
Pearce noted Connell had no prior convictions and was treated as a youthful offender because of his age at the time.
He rejected a request for home detention, finding the crimes were too serious.
“There is a particular need for courts to demonstrate, especially to young men, that there will be criminal responsibility and punishment for sexual acts of this nature performed without consent,” the judge said.
Connell was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and will not be eligible for parole until he has served half that term.
His name will be placed on the sex offender register.
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