Immigrant footy player who raped a child four times and only quit because he got a girlfriend gets just two years in prison – and may not even be deported from Australia
- Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki imprisoned in Mackay
- Former rugby league player found guilty of rape
- He met his victim through work as a teacher’s assistant
A rugby league player has been sentenced to two years in prison after raping a child he met after finding a job as an unqualified teacher’s assistant.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki, 24, moved from New Zealand to Emerald in Queensland’s central highlands, where he signed with QRL club the Mackay Cutters in 2018.
Mackay District Court heard that an injury forced him to leave the sport the following year. He found work at a school in the area where he met his victim despite not having a teaching qualification. The daily Mercury reports.
Paki pleaded not guilty to digital rape and indecent treatment of a child charge, but a jury disagreed and found him guilty of four counts of rape on Thursday.
He was acquitted on charges of indecent treatment of a child.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki played for the Mackay Cutters but left due to injury in 2019. Then he got a job as a teacher’s assistant, where he met the victim (stock image)
A conviction was recorded for which he would normally be deported under the Migration Act for failing the ‘good character’ test.
But Paki would be allowed to stay in Australia, according to his lawyer, who said the government would take into account how long he has lived in the country and the seriousness of his crimes.
The court heard that the crime took place over two months in 2020 and that Paki only stopped when other women his own age “started to take an interest in him.”
There were no threats of violence or drugs and alcohol.
Judge Michael Byrne said the crime “infringed on a (young) girl’s normal upbringing.”
He said Paki had formed the idea that the breaching was not predatory, in part because of “immaturity.”
“The jury has accepted that you digitally penetrated her four times,” Judge Byrne said.
The 24-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison and will serve two years behind bars, with the remaining two years on probation.