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UWA law graduate Luigi Rayapen pleads guilty to sexually assaulting woman on Rottnest Island

UWA law graduate Luigi Rayapen pleads guilty to sexually assaulting woman on Rottnest Island

A former law student at the University of Western Australia has been told he is facing a possible jail term after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a woman during post exam celebrations at Rottnest Island.

Luigi Ignace Rayapen, 26, admitted abusing the woman, who was in her 20s, as she tried to sleep in a bed in a bungalow on the holiday island in the early hours of July 1, 2020.

The District Court was told the woman, who cannot be identified, did not know Rayapen, but said he could stay the night at the accommodation she was sharing with others after they had been out drinking.

Three other people were in the room when the abuse happened, including a friend of the woman who was in the same bed.

A close up of Luigi wearing graduation robes
The court heard Rayapen assaulted the woman as she tried to sleep.(Facebook)

State Prosecutor Rebekah Sleeth said the woman woke up to Rayapen rolling her over and groping her but she pretended to remain asleep in the hope he would stop what he was doing.

However, Rayapen did not and so she repeatedly told him to stop and kept pushing his hand away from her body.

She also tried to kick her friend who was sleeping nearby.

The court heard Rayapen also squeezed her breast so hard it left a bruise and he also bit her on the face while trying to kiss her.

A headshot of Luigi who has olive skin and dark hair
Raya pen only backed off when the woman grabbed him around the throat, the court heard.(Facebook)

It was not until the woman grabbed Rayapen around the throat that he eventually backed away.

Ms Sleeth said the woman then woke up her friend and told them what happened.

Rayapen was told to leave but he would not and ended up staying the night at the bungalow.

Guilty pleas entered for two charges

The court heard Rayapen later said to the woman he was “sorry” and that he hoped she could forgive him.

However, when she saw a police car driving past the bungalow, she flagged it down and reported what happened.

Aerial of Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island lies 18km off the coast of Perth. (Supplied: Rottnest Island Authority)

Rayapen was originally facing four charges, but he pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault causing bodily harm and one count of [digital] sexual penetration without consent.

The remaining two charges were discontinued on what Ms Sleeth said were “public interest” grounds.

Luigi pictured with two other men wearing old-school suits pictured in a ballroom
Luigi Rayapen was a law student at the University of Western Australia. (Facebook)

Rayapen’s barrister, Julie Condon QC, requested the matter be adjourned, telling the court the defense needed more time to prepare its submissions.

Rayapen had ‘mental health issues’

She said they may include a psychiatric report on Rayapen whom she said had “some mental health issues.”

Ms Condon also said her client had recently completed his degree.

Luigi pictured in front of canals while overseas
Rayapen was on the committee of the Blackstone Society at UWA.(Facebook)

Judge Laurie Levy agreed to release Rayapen on bail until the sentencing hearing, but he told him not to take that as an indication of the penalty he may receive.

“I don’t want you to think because you’ve been granted bail you are not going to jail,” Judge Levy said.

Judge Levy said people “commonly” go to jail for these types of offenses.

Rayapen is due back in court next month.

While studying law at UWA, Rayapen was on the committee of the Blackstone Society which describes itself as the peak representative body for students in the law faculty.

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Meth user who fell asleep at the wheel killing pregnant partner in Coolup crash jailed in Perth

A close up of a man and a woman posing for the camera

A driver whose pregnant partner was killed when he fell asleep at the wheel, a year before he caused another crash in Darwin that seriously injured his new partner, has been jailed in Western Australia.

Michael Dixon, 37, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death of 31-year-old Mel Duffey in Coolup, about 100 kilometers south of Perth, on December 13, 2019.

The District Court was told Dixon had not slept for more than 72 hours.

Traces of methamphetamine were also found in his blood and he admitted injecting the drug two days before the crash.

Ms Duffey, who had wanted to return home from their camping trip because she was worried about her three children, was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.

She was six months pregnant.

A close up of a woman wearing glasses with a nose piercing and two lip piercings
Mel Duffey was killed when his partner Michael Dixon fell asleep at the wheel while driving.(Facebook: Mel Duffey)

After the crash, Dixon moved to Darwin, where a year later, in December 2020, he crashed an all terrain vehicle into a street sign, seriously injuring his new partner, former police officer Kristi Wenck.

Dixon had been drinking with friends at a party beforehand and he pleaded guilty in the Northern Territory to driving under the influence as well as dangerous driving causing harm.

Emergency vehicles are by the edge of the road where an ATV is on its side.
The aftermath of the crash in Darwin, in which Michael Dixon’s new partner received serious injuries. (ABC News: Dane Hirst)

He was given a suspended jail term, but he was later extradited to Perth to face the charge over the crash that claimed the life of Ms Duffey.

‘disastrous decision’

Judge Mara Barone accepted Dixon had made the decision to drive because Ms Duffey was concerned and anxious about her children and not because of a selfish desire to return home.

“You drove because you believed it was the right thing … it proved to be a disastrous decision,” Judge Barone told a tearful Dixon.

A dark photo of a badly damaged vehicle on a tow truck ramp.
The wreckage after Michael Dixon fell asleep at the wheel while driving in Coolup in December 2019, killing his partner Mel Duffey.(ABCNews)

She said Dixon must have been aware of the extent of his fatigue and of the risk he would fall asleep.

Judge Barone highlighted Dixon’s subsequent offenses in the Northern Territory and told him he needed to understand that he could not drive in a manner that put the safety and lives of others in danger.

She sentenced him to three years’ jail — he will have to serve 18 months before he can be released on parole.

Dixon was also disqualified from driving for five years.

Three people in face masks walk along a city street.
Mel Duffey’s mother Cindy Rogers (right), pictured with her family outside court, criticized the sentence. (ABC News: Greg Pollock)

Outside the court Ms Duffey’s mother, Cindy Rogers, fought back tears as she described the sentence as “wrong”.

“I’ve still got her children, they’re with me and they want their mum and I can’t give them their mum and it’s his fault,” she said.

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Perth woman Moe Moe Myint Kelly jailed over ‘ruthless’ theft of $2 million from employer

Perth woman Moe Moe Myint Kelly jailed over 'ruthless' theft of $2 million from employer

A 65-year-old Perth woman who over seven years “ruthlessly” stole $2 million from trusting family friends she worked for, has been sentenced to more than four-and-a-half years in jail.

Moe Moe Myint Kelly was employed as a bookkeeper and accountant for a Northbridge business, which operated both a pharmacy and a newsagent.

She was a family friend of the owners, and the District Court was told when the business started struggling, Kelly agreed to work for free until things improved.

However, unknown to the owners, she began funneling sums of cash from the daily takings into her own accounts.

The thieving began in 2011 and only stopped when Kelly made what was described as “a minor error” in 2018 which led to an audit that uncovered her crime.

The court heard when the owners confronted her, she claimed she had sent most of the money to charities in Burma.

State Prosecutor Justin Whalley SC said bank statements showed the sums Kelly deposited into her accounts ranged from just under $1,000 to $15,000, with most of them being around the $5,000 mark.

A woman in sunglasses, a black top and apricot pants outside a Perth courthouse.
Moe Moe Myint Kelly’s earliest possible release date is April 2025. (ABC News: Glyn Jones)

In total there were more than four hundred separate instances of stealing, with records showing that between 2011 and 2015 she lost large amounts of money at the casino.

The owners provided victim impact statements to the court which detailed the struggles they went through including working around 100 hours a week and using their savings to pay their staff.

Woman was ‘riding a gravy train’

Mr Whalley said Kelly was a trusted family friend of the owners and he described her offenses as “a massive breach of trust”.

“We say she continued to work for nothing because she was riding a gravy train, that was providing her with hundreds of thousands of dollars a year,” he said.

Kelly was initially charged with stealing $3.5 million and had been due to stand trial earlier this year.

However, after negotiations, she pleaded guilty to stealing the lesser sum of $2 million, although Mr Whalley said it was not accepted the figure was that low.

“But it was not in the public interest to litigate the difference,” he told the court.

Kelly’s lawyer said her client, who was born in Burma, had an extremely deprived childhood that effectively included being “abandoned” by her parents when she was seven.

She said Kelly was now married to a man who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Aggravated, ‘ruthless’ offending

Judge David MacLean told Kelly her crimes were aggravated because she was a trusted family friend of the business owners.

“You had a ringside seat to their suffering… you cynically abused that position of trust,” he said.

He also described her actions as “ruthless”.

“You stole directly, repeatedly without guilt, remorse or shame from someone who you appeared to consider as a family,” he said.

Judge MacLean said greed appeared to be the motivation for the offenses.

“It was undertaken by reason for a desire to either enrich yourself or to spend more time at the casino.”

He also described the sum stolen as “enormous”.

“It was an amount of money which was squandered on a parasitic enterprise, something in the order of $1.2 million at the Crown Casino,” he said.

Judge MacLean said Kelly continued to try to justify her actions by claiming she had not been properly paid, and because of that he did not accept she was entirely remorseful.

After taking into account her deprived upbringing and her pleas of guilty, Judge MacLean sentenced Kelly to four years and eight months in jail.

She will have to serve two years and eight months before she is eligible for parole — her earliest possible release date will be in April 2025.

The court heard none of the money had been paid back.

Victim says Kelly ‘cost year years of her life’

Judge MacLean did make a compensation order and the court heard any of Kelly’s assets will be forfeited.

The business owner, Diana Quan, was in court for the sentencing.

She said the jail term was not enough.

“She took 10 years of my life,” she said.

“It’s been an emotional toll. It’s brought up a lot of emotions.

“It was a hard time for us and it continues to be a hard time, we’ll never recover from this, we’re just a small family business and we work really, really hard.”

Ms Quan also said she did not believe the business would get any of the money back but she was grateful the Judge did not accept Kelly was truly remorseful.

“The picture that she presents to the world is very different from who she actually is.”

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Australia

WA Supreme Court hears man allegedly attempted to kill partner of 35 years

Supreme Court WA 27/09/2013

A 58-year-old Perth man armed himself with a large knife and tried to kill his wife after becoming angry at her for ending their 35-year relationship and taking out a restraining order against him, the WA Supreme Court has been told.

The man, who the ABC has chosen not to name, is on trial accused of attempting to murder his wife as she lay sleeping the room of her Beeliar home, with her four-year-old granddaughter beside her, just after midnight on September 25 , 2020.

The court was told the couple’s adult son, who was staying with his mother to protect her, heard his mother’s cries for help and rushed into the bedroom.

He managed to grab his father in a bear hug and eventually forced him to drop the knife, while the woman called the police.

She had suffered injuries to her hands, including a ruptured tendon, because she grabbed the knife when her husband jumped on top of her, after entering the bedroom and turning on the light.

State Prosecutor Brett Tooker said the man had been holding the weapon at his wife’s chest while yelling things like “you’re dead, I’m going to kill you.”

A silhouette of a woman as she looks out of a window
The woman ended the relationship with her husband after he started drinking and psychologically verbally abusing her.(ABC Far North: Holly Richardson)

Mr Tooker said the problems in the relationship started in about 2017, when the accused man started drinking alcohol heavily and mixing it with prescription medication.

The court heard the man first physically assaulted his wife in early 2018, when he put his hands around her neck, but she decided not to call the police because he promised not to do it again.

‘You better sleep with one eye open’, wife told

However, Mr Tooker said the man continued to verbally and psychologically abuse his wife who, by mid-September 2020, decided to end their relationship.

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Ex-WA police officer Michael Richard Tyler used social media to discuss sexually abusing children

Ex-WA police officer Michael Richard Tyler used social media to discuss sexually abusing children

A former West Australian police officer is behind bars after pleading guilty to accessing and possessing child sex abuse material, which he then discussed and forwarded to users in online chat rooms.

WARNING: This story contains content that some readers may find upsetting.

Michael Richard Tyler, 38, was a senior constable stationed in the Mid West city of Geraldton last year, when he used social media apps such as Discord and WhatsApp to discuss sexually abusing children.

The District Court was told a search of his electronic devices discovered thousands of messages that included discussions about drugging and raping children.

During some of those discussions, Tyler also forwarded images and videos of children as young as two months being abused.

In one exchange, Tyler and a woman talked about abusing an eight-year-old girl while they were babysitting her.

In a different conversation with another woman, the discussion centered around about being abusive parents.

Crimes followed ‘tumultuous few years’

Tyler’s lawyer Clint Hampson told the court the offenses took place after his relationship broke down and his former partner took their children overseas.

Dr Hampson said that he had a “profound effect” on Tyler’s mental health and triggered what he called “a tumultuous few years” that included drug addiction.

The court heard Tyler then met a woman on Tinder, who talked about abusing a child.

“He accepts that once he was introduced to this, he’s gone and offended,” Dr Hampson submitted.

It was revealed during the hearing that a female co-offender had been sentenced earlier this year over her “online chats” with Tyler.

She claimed she had been coerced by him into taking part, despite having no interest in child abuse material.

Judge dismisses ‘fantasy’ claims

Tyler’s sentencing was adjourned until November after Judge Charlotte Dawson said a psychological report was needed to determine the extent of his sexual interest in children.

Judge Dawson said in some of the material before her, Tyler had referred to his crimes being “fantasy”, which she highlighted was not the case.

“This isn’t fantasy, these are real children, real victims,” ​​she said.

“To see the word fantasy, that is offensive… it is clearly erroneous.”

Tyler did not seek bail and was remanded in custody.

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Geraldton methamphetamine trial hears drugs worth $160 million transferred mid-ocean

Geraldton methamphetamine trial hears drugs worth $160 million transferred mid-ocean

The seizure of 1.2 tonnes of methamphetamine in the port city of Geraldton almost five years ago was preceded months earlier by the “successful importation” of hundreds of kilograms of the drug, the WA Supreme Court has been told.

The revelation came at the start of a new trial for five men accused of involvement in the massive drug importation in December 2017 — Jabour Anthony Lahood, 56, Peter Harb, 48, Christos Cafcakis, 48, Serupepeli Anthony Rasaubale, 38 and Khalid Elia Kaena , 57.

The court was told the methamphetamine, or ice — worth about $160 million — had been transferred onto a 55-foot vessel, called the Valkoista, in a mid-ocean rendezvous with another vessel dubbed “the Asian boat.”

It is alleged the crew members on each boat provided a half-torn Hong Kong bank note to verify their identities before the transfer took place.

Police were watching

Commonwealth prosecutor Chris O’Donnell SC said the Valkoista then made its way to Geraldton where a “ground crew” was waiting to collect the drugs.

Unbeknown to those involved, the importation was being watched by police, who swooped as the 60 bags containing the drugs were loaded into a van.

Two AFP officers with faces blurred next to an open van door containing sacks of drugs.
A van containing the methamphetamine was seized by authorities in Geraldton in December, 2017.(Supplied: AFP)

Mr O’Donnell said Mr Cafcakis was one of the crew on the Valkoista, Mr Rasaubale and Mr Kaena were members of the ground crew, and Mr Lahood and Mr Harb were the organizers of the operation and oversaw what was happening from Sydney.

Mr O’Donnell said the importation had not “come out of the blue” but had followed a successful operation five months earlier, when the Valkoista had been purchased for $350,000.

Those who bought the boat were told they needed to look for a vessel that had a carrying capacity of between 400 kilograms and 800 kilograms.

The methamphetamine smuggled in during the July operation was transferred to the Valkoista mid-ocean, then driven from Geraldton to Sydney, Mr O’Donnell said.

He said that earlier importation was the beginning of a “chain of events” that culminated in the December drugs seizure.

Boat running low on fuel

The court heard the drugs were again transferred to the Valkoista in a mid-ocean rendezvous in December 2017, and while they were meant to be taken back to Hillarys, in Perth’s north, they ended up in Geraldton because that was the nearest port and the Valkoista was low on fuel.

Mr O’Donnell said the “successful” importation happened after meetings in Sydney involving Mr Lahood.

A van with its back doors open with a charge of bags containing meth, at Geraldton harbour.
The drugs ended up back in Geraldton because the vessel that was meant to transport them was low on fuel. (Supplied: AFP)

Witnesses in the case are expected to include two men who were involved in the December importation—the captain of the Valkoista and one of the “ground crew.”

At the beginning of the case, Justice Michael Corboy informed the jury members there had been a previous trial involving the men, but it had concluded for reasons he said were not relevant to anything they will have to consider.

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Australia

WA FIFO worker Jonathan David Small sentenced to 10 years in jail for repeatedly raping colleague

An earth mover shifts dirt into a truck in the Pilbara

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.

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.

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