An "entitled" Canberra labourer will spend the next six months behind bars after laughing while raping a woman, then minimising his behaviour and showing "limited contrition".
Jake Elias Versteeg, the son of a top burlesque performer, was led into the court cells with a look of fear on his face after being sentenced on Friday morning.
The ACT Supreme Court has previously heard the 30-year-old went with his mother on a burlesque-themed cruise to Vanuatu, and became infatuated with a dancer he met on the ship.
The pair became friends and in June 2018, they kissed and engaged in mutual touching at Versteeg's home in Waramanga.
The woman insisted she did not want to have sex, but Versteeg refused to listen, laughed and raped her despite repeated verbal and physical protests.
Versteeg only stopped the attack when the victim bit him on the shoulder.
Some hours later, after the victim had made it clear she was not interested in any sort of sexual activity with Versteeg, he grabbed her hand and placed it on his penis.
Versteeg initially planned to fight a number of charges, but pleaded guilty on the eve of his trial to engaging in sexual intercourse without consent and committing an act of indecency without consent.
When Versteeg appeared in court for sentence on Friday, Justice John Burns said he had demonstrated "an attitude of entitlement".
The judge said Versteeg had not been prepared to accept the victim's right to say no, and that he had used physical force to restrain the woman and remove her clothes as she fought against him.
Justice Burns expressed concern that ever since the date in question, Versteeg had "refused to recognise the gravity" of his conduct, while also seeking to "greatly minimise" it.
He said that in a recent psychological assessment, Versteeg had indicated he "felt heartbroken" that he had been accused of the rape.
The 30-year-old also told the psychologist he believed his crimes were "not as big a deal as what is being made out".
"You have shown limited contrition for these offences," Justice Burns told the rapist.
The judge said the remorse Versteeg had shown appeared to be based on Versteeg's own, untrue version of events.
While Versteeg pleaded guilty, he disputed the victim's claims about the length of the rape.
His version was that he had only sexually penetrated the victim "a bit", and for no more than one second in a momentary loss of self-control.
Justice Burns ultimately accepted the victim's recollection, finding Versteeg had lied and the attack had lasted longer.
"Your failure to be entirely honest reduces my confidence that you will not reoffend," the judge told Versteeg.
Justice Burns also referred to a victim impact statement, in which Versteeg's victim described withdrawing socially, being unable to leave her house without breaking into a cold sweat, and having regular "cry breaks" at work.
The woman wrote of losing her greatest joy in life, which had been dancing and performing, because she was "terrified" of people watching her after what Versteeg did.
"It is very clear that your offending has had a lasting, detrimental effect on [the victim]," Justice Burns told Versteeg.
The judge said while Versteeg had been assessed as suitable for an intensive correction order, it would be inappropriate to impose a jail sentence served entirely in the community in this case.
He indicated this was partly because of Versteeg's ongoing attitude to the offending, and because it was unclear whether the labourer was willing to address his "problematic beliefs about consent and relationships".
Justice Burns sentenced Versteeg to two years and seven months in jail, and ordered that the balance of the sentence be suspended once the labourer has served six months in full-time custody.
When Versteeg is released from the Alexander Maconochie Centre in March next year, he will be required to enter into a two-year good behaviour order with several conditions attached.
