A University of Western Australia law graduate who was spared jail after admitting to raping a fellow student at Rottnest Island could be thrown behind bars after the state’s highest court heard he was wrongly shown mercy.
Luigi Rayapen was handed a two-year suspended sentence in December.
Today, prosecutors launched an appeal, arguing the 26-year-old’s remorse wasn’t deeply genuine.
Rayapen ignored his then-21-year-old victim’s repeated pleas to stop, responding “why?”
The Crown argues Rayapen’s actions the day after the assault attempted to “minimise” his wrongdoing and that after the attack, at an end-of-semester party, Rayapen messaged a friend saying “we are blokes, we have urges, I’ll make it up to her”.
Read Related Also: Art-swindler husband of missing Massachusetts mother-of-three is arrested for ‘misleading police’
Prosecutors also say the sex attacker was given too much credit for his guilty plea, which came two years after the assault and just hours before his trial was due to begin.
Rayapen’s lawyers maintain his remorse was of the highest level.
The Court of Appeal reserved its decision until the middle of next month.
Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.
