A New South Wales police officer has been sentenced today for sexually assaulting a patron at Sydney’s Defqon.1 festival last year.
While Defqon.1 attracted controversy recently following a handful of drug-related deaths, it’s an incident from last year’s festivities that has made headlines today.
As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, Constable Mitchell James Willey has been sentenced to a two-year community corrections order after pleading guilty to indecent assault.
The incident in question occurred in September of 2017 when Willey, who was off-duty at the time, approached a woman and grabbed her by the vagina. Several police officers were reportedly following Willey at the time, who was apprehended by a sergeant after the woman reportedly screamed “don’t touch me”.
In the Penrith Local Court earlier today, magistrate Geoff Hiatt explained that he did not belief Constable Willey to be “genuinely remorseful” for his actions.
While Willey’s lawyer Ben Clark claimed that the incident was a moment of “absolute madness”, prosecutor Kate Owens noted that the public has grown far too tired of such behaviour.
“There is quite a vocal protest going on in this state and elsewhere,” Owens explained. “She was randomly attacked by this offender.”
“Women in particular should be able to attend these events and go about their day-to-day lives without fear of this kind of interference with their body.”
While Mr Clark claimed that “this is not #MeToo”, and that his client is “not being sentenced for being Harvey Weinstein,” Constable Willey was nonetheless suspended for his actions, with his future in the NSW police force currently unclear.
Just last month, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian outlined her desire to shut down the Defqon.1 festival, citing a spate of drug-related deaths as the reasoning for her decision.
“I never want to see this event held in Sydney or New South Wales ever again – we will do everything we can to shut this down,” she explained in a press conference.
“I understand there were some deaths in the past, but to have at least two on one night when every assurance was given to those attending that it was a safe event,” she continued. “Clearly it wasn’t when so many people have succumbed.”
“I’m absolutely aghast at what’s occurred [and] I don’t want any family to have to go through the tragedy that some families are waking up to this morning — it’s just horrible to think about.”
Check out footage of Defqon.1 2017:
