Just weeks after a damning WA parliamentary report into sexual harassment and assaults in the mining industry, a FIFO worker has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for repeatedly raping a colleague.
Key points:
Small and his victim worked for BHP at the time of the offenses
The assaults occurred in Perth, when both were on rostered days off
With time already served, he will be eligible for release in 2028
Jonathan David Small, 44, was found guilty by a District Court jury of six charges of sexually penetrating the 22-year-old woman without her consent, after they went out to dinner while they were on rostered days off in Perth.
Both worked for BHP at the time, but Small was sacked after the woman reported what happened to her superiors when she returned to her worksite, in the Pilbara, two days later.
Small was charged with eight offenses. He denied them all, maintaining the sex was consensual, but he was found guilty of six of the charges and acquired of the other two.
