Director of Public Prosecutions v Kreutzer

[2025] VCC 800

IN THE COUNTY COURT OF VICTORIA  Revised
Not Restricted
Suitable for Publication

AT BAIRNSDALE

CRIMINAL DIVISION

CR 24-00706

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS

v

PATRICK KREUTZER

---

JUDGE:	HIS HONOUR JUDGE CHETTLE
WHERE HELD:	Bairnsdale
DATE OF HEARING:	14 April 2025 (Geelong), 13 June 2025 (Bairnsdale)
DATE OF SENTENCE:	13 June 2025
CASE MAY BE CITED AS:	DPP v Kreutzer
MEDIUM NEUTRAL CITATION:	[2025] VCC 800

REASONS FOR SENTENCE

Subject:CRIMINAL LAW - SENTENCE

Catchwords:              Sentence – sexual assault, rape (rolled up charge) - plea of guilty Childhood unstable family situation – Alcohol abuse - Sentence Indication Hearing prior to plea of guilty. 

Legislation Cited:      s6AAA Sentencing Act 1991, Sex Offenders Registration Act, 2004

Cases Cited:R v Verdins [2007] VSCA 102; Worboyes v The Queen [2021] VSCA 169, R v Boulton [2014] VSCA 342, Bugmy V R (2013) 302 ALR 192,

Sentence:Imprisonment, Total effective sentence of 6 years. Non-parole period of 4 years. Sex Offenders Registration – period of 15 years  

APPEARANCES:	Counsel	Solicitors
For the Director of Public Prosecutions	Mr R. de Vietri	Ms D. John, Office of Public Prosecutions
For the Accused	Ms E. Byrt	Mr R. Robertson, Dribbin and Brown

HIS HONOUR:

1Patrick Kreutzer, you have pleaded guilty to two rolled up charges.  One, the first of sexual assault encompassing three separate incidents of that offending.

2The second, a rolled up count of rape encompassing two sexual penetrations of your victim.

3The facts of your offending are set out in the summary of prosecution opening tendered as Exhibit A.  I incorporate those - that outline, that document into these reasons for sentence and sentence you on the basis of the facts set out therein.

4Your offending occurred on 14 August of 2022.  Your victim was the daughter of a friend of yours and she was young, 17 whilst you were 36 years of age at the time.  Both you and your victim consumed alcohol and drugs on the night of the party at your house.  I only intend to briefly deal with the facts because they are comprehensively set out in the prosecution opening.  Late in the evening of that Saturday, 13 August, the victim went upstairs to the bedroom wanting to be alone, she was affected I think by alcohol.  While she was there, her friends came and checked on her on occasion.  Meanwhile you continued drinking downstairs. 

5You passed out and were carried upstairs and put into your son's bedroom by other people from the party.  You got up and moved into your own bedroom.  You were described by your victim as sloppy and drunk and you laid down on the bed and fell asleep.  The victim got up and left the bedroom because she did not want to be there with you and went to the son's bedroom and got into bed.  She was trying to go to sleep when you came into that room and you lay down beside her and started cuddling her from behind and you were rubbing your penis against her buttocks.  That is part of the sexual assault charge.

6You then put your hand on her vagina and rubbed it over her clothing.  Again that is part of the assault charge.  You then inserted your finger into her vagina and rubbed her clitoris.  That of course is part of the rape charge to which you pleaded guilty.  You undid her crop top, removed her boxer shorts and her underwear, you put her on her back, you licked both her nipples which is again a continuation of your sexual assault offence.  You licked her vagina and she was frozen with fear lying there whilst you did so. 

7You then put your penis inside her vagina.  Although you were having difficulties maintaining an erection because of your alcohol consumption, your penis did penetrate her vagina, but it was not a full penetration and that is the second part of your rape charge.  Finally, she pushed you off her and ran out of the bedroom screaming for help.  She wanted to call the police but got into a fight with her friend about that, but ultimately she went to a neighbour's house at 4.57 in the morning and telephoned the police. 

8Police arrived and they found her crying and distressed.  They made their investigations, she was medically examined and a DNA swab and samples were taken which implicated you in the offending.  You were interviewed but did not make admissions - as a matter of fact you made denials - saying you had no sexual contact with her at all. 

9The offending to which you have pleaded guilty is extremely serious as your counsel concedes.  Sexual assault has a 10 year maximum penalty, and rape has a 25 year maximum penalty.  And the government has prescribed that rape should have a standard sentence of 10 years.  This is not a mandatory sentence but it is a signpost by the legislature to indicate how seriously rape is regarded as an offence.  That is 10 years for an average run of the mill rape after a plea so, it is a significant factor in sentencing.

10Your victim has provided a victim impact statement.  Not surprisingly, she suffers nightmares, has difficulty sleeping and is depressed and anxious as a result of your crimes.  She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.  She has lost trust in males generally.  She has required medication and counselling as a result.  That has caused her some financial difficulty.  Her mother's victim impact statement confirms the affect the crimes have had upon her daughter.  I take the victim impact material into account in sentencing you.

11You have admitted a prior criminal history.  It is a history that is not surprising given your history of alcohol abuse. You have a number of court appearances,   both in Victoria and in Queensland, where there are offences such as committing a public nuisance, which I am not quite sure what that involves, but you have been fined for that offence a number of times in Queensland.  In Victoria, you have been convicted of behaving in an offensive manner, destroying property, breaching intervention order, cultivating and possessing cannabis. 

12You do have a prior conviction for unlawful assault in March of 2022 in the Magistrates' Court for which you were fined a thousand dollars.  And you have another conviction for assault in Geelong where you were fined two and a half thousand dollars on 16 November 2023.

13As I understand it they were alcohol fuelled violent offences.  You have no prior history of sexual offending.  But just general lawlessness as a result of alcohol.  Your personal history is set out in the submissions of your counsel and in the report of Warren Simmons, Psychologist which is Exhibit 2 on your plea.

14Your personal circumstances; you are now 39 years of age.  You were born in Queensland, in Maryborough, but you grew up in the Gippsland area of Sale.  Your life, early childhood was very unstable.  Your father who may or may not still be alive, your mother does not know, would be 76 years of age if he is alive; he was a significant alcoholic who was violent.  You lived a fairly unstable lifestyle.  Your father would drink daily and become abusive.  Finally you threw him out of the house.  Your parents separated when you were about 13 years of age.

15You do not enjoy a good relationship with your sister.  You attended school to Year 10 level.  When you left you got work, apparently in a clothing store, but then worked in the showgrounds, and went  back and forward, doing some work as a scaffolder and in warehousing. You worked effectively full-time only from
15 or 16 years ago, when you became involved in carpentry.  And although you commenced, but did not complete an apprenticeship, you worked for various builders in the Geelong area up until you ceased work in preparation for what you appreciate was going to be the inevitable outcome facing you today.

16You have had a number of close relationships.  Significantly, one when you were about 25.  You have a 10 year old son from that relationship and you have enjoyed a close relationship with him; trying to ensure you do not repeat the mistakes your father made with you.  He is as I said, now 10 years old and you have had regular contact with him, and you will find your time in custody more onerous because of missing your relationship with your child.

17Not surprisingly given your history, you commenced using alcohol at a young age, the age of 13.  You drank regularly and continued to do so throughout your life.  You also used recreationally and intermittently, party drugs.  Alcohol played a significant role in your offending, for which I am sentencing you.  You were very, very intoxicated.  Your offending was opportunistic.  It was not brief.  It was not momentary but you were persistent, but it was opportunistic in the sense that in your drunken state you took advantage of a young woman who was terrified of you and who was significantly younger than you and vulnerable.

18I take into account in sentencing you, your pleas of guilty, you have spared the community the time and expense of a criminal trial.  And more importantly, you have spared your victim the need to give evidence.  Your plea occurred on the eve of what was to be the taking of the evidence of the complainant; your victim.  You asked for and were given a sentence indication and you accepted that indication thereby sparing her the need to give evidence.  I think your plea of guilty recognises a number of things.

19It saves the community, as I said, time, money and expense.  It saves the victim the trauma of giving evidence.  It acknowledges some acceptance of responsibility by you, for your actions, your crimes and it demonstrates your remorse for that offending.  You are entitled to and will receive a significant reduction to the sentence you would otherwise receive to reflect your pleas of guilty.

20I take into account in a general way your background as set out in the materials.  It is not surprising that alcohol features in your life, given your background, but you need to stay on top of that otherwise your risk of reoffending increases.  You indicate that for the last 12 months you have been taking steps to deal with that, and spend more time with your son and it is to be hoped that you use your time in custody to deal with your alcohol issues.

21Sentencing you involves me giving recognition to principles of general deterrence.  People who are minded to sexually dominate or sexually offend against others, need to understand that it is a serious offence which carries serious penalties.  It is to be hoped that I can deter others from behaving as you did by the sentence I impose on you.

22I must also express the community's denunciation of your conduct and I must impose a sentence that justly punishes the offending you committed.

23I have assessed the seriousness of your offending.  Rape is a serious offence.  I am not in any way saying your offence is not serious, but in my view your offending represents a lower level example of offences of this type.  There was no associated extra violence, other than the violence of the rape itself.  You did not strike or otherwise physically injure your victim.

24I have had regard to the parliamentary requirement that I consider the standard sentence a signpost alongside the maximum penalty in arriving at an appropriate sentence for you.

25Would you stand up please?

26On both charges you are convicted. 

27On Charge 1, sexual assault, the rolled up charge, you are sentenced to a term of imprisonment of two years.

28On Charge 2, the rolled up rape count, you are sentenced to five years imprisonment.

29I order that one year of the sentence imposed on Charge 1 be served cumulatively on the sentence imposed on Charge 2, which is the base sentence.  That is an effective term of imprisonment of six years.  I order that you serve four years of that sentence before being eligible for parole.  There is no pre-sentence detention in this case.

30I indicate pursuant to s6AAA of the Sentencing Act that but for your pleas of guilty I would have imposed a term of imprisonment of 10 years with a non-parole period of seven.

31Pursuant to the Sex Offenders Registration Act under SORA registration you are to report for 15 years.  You will be provided with a copy of your obligations under that Act whilst you are in custody.

32Are any other orders required, Mr Prosecutor?

33MR de VIETRI:  No Your Honour, those are the matters.

34HIS HONOUR:  All right, would you take Mr Kreutzer into custody please.

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