Former Canberra Football Coach Stephen Porter (“Porter”) has pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual crimes against children.
In 2015, Porter was found to have aligned himself with a family to gain access to their child. Porter offered the child one-on-on coaching, proposing to make him a better player, to which his parents agreed. Over approximately a one-year period, Porter developed a coaching relationship, turned friendship, with activities such as playing board games together with the child’s family and having dinners at the child’s family home.
After developing the above-mentioned relationship, in approximately 2015, Porter invited the child over to his house and played Xbox with the child, before commencing a conversation regarding how Porter had made other junior football players “feel good”. Porter then placed him arms on the child’s shoulder, walked the child to his bedroom and said, words to the effect, “You’re not going to regret this,”. What occurred next was found by the Court to be sexual assault.
During the disputed facts hearing before ACT Supreme Court Justice Chrissa Loukas-Klasson, Porter claimed the sexual encounters occurred 14-15 times and that of those times, penetration occurred two to three times. The prosecution asserted that every time after the first encounter of sexual abuse, rape had occurred and that Porter had actually sexually assaulted the child between 35 to 45 times. Her Honour found Porter had attempted to minimise his crimes and that the victim’s account was believable. Ever more disturbingly, during the disputed facts hearing Porter claimed he was very close friends with the boy and gave evidence that he “felt like he was my little brother”.
On 1 September 2022, Porter was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 12 and a half years, giving him eligibility for release in May 2034. Justice Chrissa Loukas-Klasson indicated that the long sentence reflected the seriousness of the crimes.
At Chamberlains, we support our clients in seeking restorative justice, by pursuing financial compensation from the institution responsible or individual perpetrator in historic and current sexual abuse claims.
If you would like to discuss a claim you may have or have been a witness to abuse, please contact Ms Sarah Hayman of our Personal Injury Team on sarah.hayman@chamberlains.com.au
If you have any questions or concerns please contact our Injury & Compensation Director Jon May on 02 6188 3600