A depraved rapist who pimped and brutalized his wife in the most disgusting ways has received a reduced sentence because he was a former prison officer who was the subject of negative press.
Jon Seccull, 46, denied ever raping his then-wife Michelle Skewes – who gave Daily Mail Australia permission to name her – several times between February 2014 and September 2015.
His actions were so degrading, perverse and terrifying that Daily Mail Australia has chosen not to detail them.
Jon Seccull and his then wife Michelle Skewes on their wedding day in 2003. The tragic death of their son years later saw them embark on an open relationship that ended in horror, a court heard
On Wednesday, County Court of Victoria Judge Sarah Dawes sentenced Secull to a minimum of six years and 10 months in prison. He has already spent 613 days behind bars.
In reaching his conclusion, Judge Dawes took into account the stress and anxiety Seccull felt while incarcerated at the Hopkins Correctional Center in Ararat – home to some of Australia’s worst sex predators.
Seccull had worked as a detective until he was charged by police in 2017, serving as a prison ambassador for White Ribbon – an organization fighting violence against women.
He also became a high-profile campaigner for organ donation after their son’s tragic death, speaking at events and to the media.
Judge Dawes, supported by Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions, accepted that Seccull had been subjected to intense media scrutiny over his sick offending, adding to his depression behind bars and triggering Victoria’s ‘Verdins Principles’.
Under Victoria’s Sentencing Act of 1991, the principles, if accepted, reduce the offender’s moral culpability and force a judge to consider the extra “hardships” imprisonment will place on them.
The court heard Jon Seccull used to enjoy watching his wife Michelle Skewes have sex with other men. He also enjoyed raping and tormenting her
Jon Seccull hid behind a veil of respectability as a prison guard. He has now used precisely that role to avoid spending more time behind bars
They are principles deployed and relied upon by convicted criminals and their lawyers on a daily basis in Victoria
“The prosecution does not take issue with the proposition that prison will burden you more and I am satisfied that it is valid,” Judge Dawes said.
‘I am told that the extent of media reporting in the past has caused you great concern and affected your mental health.
“This is particularly relevant now that you have been acquitted of the serious offense in the current trial … I accept that being the subject of public interest has added stress to these cases and to the criminal justice process in general.”
‘I accept that the media coverage is a mitigating factor … the prosecution accepts that the media coverage constitutes extra-curial punishment.’
Judge Dawes’ comments relate to Seccull’s trial in 2021, where a jury found him guilty of nine counts of rape, two counts of assault and one count of threats to cause grievous hurt.
He was then sentenced to 15 years behind bars with a minimum of 10½ years.
Seccull appealed this result on the grounds that the judge grossly interfered with the trial, amounting to a substantial miscarriage of justice.
The Victorian Court of Appeal agreed and sent him back to the County Court for a new trial.
This time the jury found Seccull guilty of only three counts of rape and one charge of threatening to inflict serious violence on Mrs Skewes.
Jon Seccull raped Michelle Skewes in the most horrific ways after she returned from a QLD trip where he saw her having sex with a stranger, the court described
Jon Seccull, 46, denied ever raping his then-wife Michelle Skewes
Both juries heard Seccull had lingering fantasies and cruel desires and wanted to arrange for his wife to meet other men for sex, live-streaming it for him to see.
He would warn her in advance not to fall in love and remind her that she belonged to him. If she refused, he would punish her.
The jury accepted that Seccull raped Ms Skewes after she returned from a live-streamed sex session with a man in Queensland in 2014.
He raped her again a year later after a drunken argument.
That same year he approached her with a loaded gun and threatened to bash her head in, shoot himself in the head and let their children find his body.
Judge Dawes condemned Seccull’s outrageous treatment of his terrified wife, who has since become a powerful public voice against domestic violence.
“Your degrading and volatile behavior resulted in a significant and fundamental breach of trust,” she told the rapist.
Mrs Skewes told the court her long ordeal had led her to often believe she got what she deserved throughout her marriage, which effectively ended in 2016.
‘No one really knows what goes on behind closed doors.’ she said. ‘I was left a shell of who I used to be and still question my worth every day.’
Outside court, Mrs Skewes said she was glad to be done with the long legal process.
“This sentence was better than I expected and the fact that he is on the sex offenders’ register for life is absolutely huge,” she said.
Seccull was sentenced to a total maximum sentence of nine years and nine months behind bars.