Australia: Rapist was exploited by friends, court told

A BRAIN-DAMAGED man who repeatedly raped a 15-year-old girl will be imprisoned for three years, a court has ruled. But her friends who drugged her, failed to help her when asked, and one of whom also raped her have so far escaped prosecution, a judge said.

The man, Kaisar Shlimon Malik-Kheyou, suffered frontal lobe damage in a car accident more than 10 years ago. His barrister, Graham Turnbull, had told Parramatta District Court at a sentencing hearing in December that Malik-Kheyou was manipulated by others and seen "as a cash cow" after an injury payout.

In July 2001 the victim and two of her friends were visiting his house. The girl had rejected Malik-Kheyou's advances on previous days, Parramatta District Court Judge Roy Ellis found. The girl had asked to go home, but her friends did not wish to leave. She was tired, then her friend came into the room and offered her a tablet, saying: "This will wake you up". She became sleepy, tired and weak and could not resist Malik-Kheyou. He raped her four times that night. An antipsychotic drug was later found in her system.

When her friend's boyfriend also wanted to have sex with her, the victim asked her friend to help her, but the girl said: "Just let him do it."

Judge Ellis ruled that Malik-Kheyou, who was considered unfit to plead, understood his wrongdoing when he repeatedly forced himself on the stupefied girl. But he said "he was not fully aware of the consequences of his conduct". "[He] was clearly used and exploited by a number of others [all of whom have avoided prosecution to date] … There is no doubt that the offender will be very vulnerable within the NSW prison system … he will be inevitably subject to various types of exploitation and he will have significantly greater difficulty coping with incarceration than the average inmate." Malik-Kheyou was sentenced under mental health laws and will be reviewed regularly by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, which could order an early release.

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