Man who abused drunk woman learns his fate

Callum Clissold, 32, was sentenced in the Geelong District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to a sexual assault charge earlier this year.

Clissold met the woman in 2021 through a Facebook singles page and in June they were together at his home in Torquay, where they drank alcohol and ordered pizza.

The woman recalled sitting on the floor, fully clothed, sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. The next thing she remembered was waking up in Clissold’s bed, partially undressed and with a sore vagina.

During his interrogation, he admitted to touching the woman, but he was convinced that this was done with mutual consent, the court heard.

In sentencing Clissold, Judge Gregory Lyon found that Clissold’s cognitive function that evening had been “impaired” by his own alcohol use and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Clissold had been diagnosed with ASD in two psychological reports. Judge Lyon referred to this in his comments.

The court found that Clissold had poor critical thinking skills and may have misinterpreted social cues, leading to an “error in judgment.”

The court heard that Clissold also had limited social skills and self-control as a result of receiving inadequate mental health care as a child and being emotionally neglected by his parents.

One of the reports concluded that Clissold would be vulnerable in prison and at risk of

develop a “serious mental illness” as a result of his inability to adapt, the court heard.

Judge Lyon ruled that a non-custodial sentence was “both open and appropriate” and sentenced Clissold to 20 months’ community service with 150 hours of unpaid community service.

Judge Lyon said the sentence had been the subject of “careful consideration” over a period of months and the court heard Clissold’s actions had left the victim with “profound trauma”.

“It is clear that it will take a long time for (the victim) to heal,” Judge Lyon said.

Judge Lyon ruled that Clissold was “a questionable, if not unreliable, historian” who had given his lawyer and assessing psychologists conflicting accounts of his life.

The court heard that during his police interview, Clissold gave “long, rambling” and “difficult to follow” answers and showed a lack of insight into his offence, sometimes denying and sometimes admitting his guilt.

However, Judge Lyon ruled that Clissold’s prospects of rehabilitation were “reasonable”, noting that he had been assessed as posing a low risk of reoffending.

After passing sentence, Judge Lyon turned to Clissold’s victim, explaining that he had to take a number of factors into account and wishing her a “happy and fulfilling life”.

“The criminal justice process is a difficult process for victims of sexual abuse,” he said, noting that it does not always produce outcomes that victims “find appropriate.”

“I am not asking for any form of forgiveness for the punishment I have imposed… I hope that you can move on in the future,” he said.