Immigrant soccer player, 24, who raped a boy four times and only stopped because he got a girlfriend is jailed for just two years, and may not even be deported from Australia.
- Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki jailed in Mackay
- Former rugby player found guilty of rape
- He met his victim working as a teacher’s assistant.
A rugby league player has been jailed for two years after raping a boy he met after landing a job as an unskilled 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 Mackay Cutters in 2018.
The Mackay District Court heard that injury forced him to leave the sport the following year. He found work at a school in the region where he met his victim despite not having any teaching degree. the daily mercury reports.
Paki pleaded not guilty to charges of digital rape and indecent treatment of a child, but a jury disagreed and found him guilty on four counts of rape on Thursday.
He was acquitted of the charge of indecent treatment of a child.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki played for the Mackay Cutters but left due to injury in 2019. He then got a job as a teacher’s aide where he met the victim (file picture)
A conviction was recorded that would normally require his deportation under the Migration Law for failing the ‘good character’ test.
But Paki may be allowed to stay in Australia, according to his defense lawyer, who said the government would take into account how long he had lived in the country and the seriousness of his crimes.
The court heard that the offense occurred over two months in 2020 and that Paki only stopped when other women his age started “showing interest in him”.
There were no threats of violence or drugs and alcohol involved.
Judge Michael Byrne said the offense had “intruded upon the normal upbringing of a (young) girl”.
He said that Paki had formed the idea that the offense was not predatory in part due to ‘immaturity’.
“The jury accepted that you digitally penetrated her four times,” Judge Byrne said.
The 24-year-old was sentenced to four years in jail and will serve two years behind bars with the remaining two years suspended.
