Father-of-two raped sister's 16-year-old friend during sleepover while infant daughter slept in same room
A 28-year-old father-of-two who was convicted of raping his sister's school friend in front of his infant child in 2015 saw his appeal turned down.
Philip John Crosland was accused of raping the victim, who was a friend of his sister Chantelle and just 16 at the time, at his home in Tamworth, in northeast New South Wales, while she was at his house for a sleepover.
During his trial, the NSW District Court heard how the victim and Chantelle had cooked dinner for Crosland and his brother Todd that evening before heading to the shed, where the 28-year-old used to sleep, to watch a movie.
Crosland, who was drinking, slapped the victim's backside, much to the chagrin of his sister and responded with "Why? There's plenty of her" when he was told off, the court heard.
Both girls left the shed at around 1:30 am and went to bed in the main house, along with Crosland's baby daughter. But some time later, Crosland came into the house and lured the victim to the shed by telling her that he needed help searching for his phone.
When they got to the shed, he forced her on the bed and demanded that she give him oral sex despite her protestations, telling her, "I told you what I f****** wanted, now just do it." He then raped her, leaving bite marks on her chest, the court heard.
The teen ran back to the house but did not tell Chantelle what had transpired because she was embarrassed. Around 30 minutes later, Crosland came to the bedroom and lay next to her as she listened to music on her phone.
When his sister fell asleep, he started molesting her. He briefly stopped when Todd entered the room, but then went on to rape her again even as his sister and daughter were meters away.
The victim told the court that she had tried to stop the 28-year-old but did not scream because she did not want to wake the baby. She said he threatened her and told her that he would kill her if she didn't keep it a secret.
The victim's sister revealed that the 16-year-old had come back home the next day and was "inconsolable, screaming, crying a lot." She said it was "hard to make sense of what she was saying" but said she had been raped by Crosland.
She was taken to a hospital for examination and then gave a statement to the police.
Crosland claimed that the teen had been "sexually suggestive" towards him during the film and that the sex in the shed was consensual. He also denied requesting oral sex and said nothing transpired in the bedroom.
Crosland was found guilty of raping the victim twice in the shed and once in the bedroom. The jury also found him guilty of one count of indecent assault at each location but acquitted him of forcing her into oral sex and one count of raping her in the bedroom.
He was subsequently sentenced to five years in jail and recently appealed the convictions at the NSW Court of Appeal, stating that the jury's verdict was unreasonable.
However, the appeal was dismissed and the 28-year-old was ordered to remain behind bars until September 14, 2020, when he will be eligible for parole.