NSW: Teenager admits shame and disgust over rape
24 Feb 2009 2:09 PM
SYDNEY, Feb 24 AAP - A teenager who raped an elderly woman in a Sydney park says he does not remember the incident, but feels ashamed and disgusted with himself.
Robert El-Chammas, 18, from Ermington in Sydney's north west, has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the 82-year-old at the park in Anzac Avenue, West Ryde, early on the morning of May 11 last year.
The NSW District Court at Parramatta was told on Tuesday that El-Chammas approached the woman from behind while she was exercising, pushed her to the ground and raped her.
Witnesses in nearby apartment blocks heard the woman screaming and called police, the sentencing submission hearing was told.
El-Chammas' barrister Ian McClintock, SC, said his client had been drunk for the first time in his life before the attack.
He asked El-Chammas whether he would have done the same thing while sober.
"I am disgusted with myself," El-Chammas replied.
"I can't be more sorry. I've done a crime I feel ashamed of. I don't know what to say."
El-Chammas has said he has no recollection of the attack and told police his only memory was of seeing an old woman in a park.
Under cross-examination by solicitor Peter Thompson, for the crown, El-Chammas said he had drunk six mixed vodka drinks before spending $200 on drinks for himself and his friend in Sydney's Kings Cross nightclub district.
Mr McClintock urged Judge Peter Johnstone to take El-Chammas' youth into consideration.
"He (was) one month over 18 - that is relevant, because this in an offence that does have elements of youthful inexperience," he said.
"It is the first time in his life that he has been intoxicated. His reaction (was) extreme. That is the only explanation that we have as a contributing factor.
El-Chammas is being supported in court by about 20 family and friends, including his girlfriend.
He is due to be sentenced later on Tuesday.
