A man convicted of sexually assaulting two women he met on a dating app near Newcastle, New South Wales, has been sentenced to eight years in jail.
Key points:
- Judge Penny Hock told the court Justin Kane Millington had a good chance of rehabilitation, despite maintaining his innocence
- Millington’s lawyer told the court his client had been assaulted several times since he was found guilty
- Millington will be eligible for parole in March 2027
Wyong man Justin Kane Millington, 50, was found guilty of 10 offences by a jury in Newcastle in February.
His trial heard he repeatedly raped one woman in bushland near Fernleigh Track in October 2020 and sexually touched another woman against her will at her home in 2021.
He had met both women on the dating app Tinder.
Millington pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In delivering the sentence in a Sydney court today, judge Penny Hock said she expected Millington to learn from his imprisonment.
“Despite maintaining his innocence, he has reasonable prospects for rehabilitation and is unlikely to reoffend,” she said.
Constant fear
In June the woman assaulted near the Fernleigh Track delivered a victim impact statement to court saying she lived with “constant fear” and that she “can’t imagine life without trauma and flashbacks”.
She also told the court she had attempted suicide after the rape.
Judge Hock said Millington must have known the woman did not consent to sexual intercourse.
“All the offending occurred in a secluded location where the victim felt – and was, in fact – vulnerable, as the events turned out,” she said.
Millington’s barrister Bill Hussey told the court his client had been assaulted several times since he was found guilty.
He requested medical assessments for Millington and told the court he was “detecting a difference in him since he went into custody”.
There was no indication in the court today as to whether Millington would appeal the conviction.
Millington will be eligible for parole in March 2027.
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