Jail for attack on ‘vulnerable’ sex worker
While police investigate the murder of a Christchurch sex worker, a man has been jailed for five years seven months for a sex attack that went far beyond the industry’s “rules of engagement”.
Christchurch District Court Judge Paul Kellar today described the sex worker involved in the 2015 attack as being “vulnerable”.
He said: “By virtue of her occupation, and the time and the location in which she chooses to work, she is particularly vulnerable, particularly to offences involving sexual activity or violence.”
Thirty-six-year-old Mark James Dommisse’s encounter with the Manchester Street sex worker last year broke rules about the workers being able to insist on clients respecting boundaries, keeping to agreements, stopping whenever the sex worker says, and ensuring safe sex.
Dommisse had pleaded guilty to the charge of sexual violation by rape and had already been given his first strike warning that imposes heavier penalties on repeat serious offenders. He has been held in custody for months awaiting sentencing.
He has a long criminal history including a jail term for violent offending in 2007.
He reached agreement with the woman for her to provide a sexual service for $40 as well as half a cannabis joint and two cans of alcohol.
The woman agreed to travel in Dommisse’s car for the purpose of carrying out the services, but then he became aggressive and Judge Kellar said he engaged in sexual activity beyond what had been agreed, in spite of being told “No” by the woman.
He put her in a headlock, and she became frightened when she could not breathe. He pushed her into the car’s dashboard and held her there by the hair.
She pleaded with Dommisse not to hurt her, but he raped her while she cried.
Judge Kellar said Dommisse raped her “in dangerous circumstances” – he had not used the condom that she had provided for the sex. The judge said this was an aggravating factor.
“She is vulnerable because she is susceptible to the transmission of sexual infection due to the nature of her work,” said the judge.
Dommisse later handed himself in to the police but Judge Kellar was willing to give him no credit for that because his arrest was virtually inevitable. The police were seeking the car, and it was only a matter of time before he was identified because they already had his DNA on their database.
He did receive a reduced sentence for his guilty plea, however.
Defence counsel Bridget Ayrey said Dommisse had wanted to meet the woman to apologise to her at a restorative justice conference, but it was not a surprise that she did not wish to take part in the process.
Category: Focus
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