A Royal Australian Navy sailor, who filmed himself raping a female colleague, has revealed a culture of recording sexual conquests existed at his Victorian navy training base
A Royal Australian Navy sailor, who filmed himself raping a female colleague, has revealed a culture of recording sexual conquests existed at his Victorian navy training base
Keith Eric Calvert was found guilty last month of two counts of digitally raping the woman after a drunken night out at Crown Casino on January 23, 2009.
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He filmed the incident on his mobile phone and at one point turned to the camera and gave the thumbs up gesture.
Calvert, 24, has argued during his pre-sentence hearing that bragging about sexual exploits and capturing them on video was common at HMAS Cerberus, south of Melbourne, where he was based as a trainee at the time.
His barrister David Sexton said the culture was one of "work hard, play hard" and heavy drinking.
He said his client had joined the navy to make friends as he had been a loner growing up and was determined to fit into his new environment.
"There was a culture of reporting, of bragging, of sexual exploits, that extended to revealing one's exploits by way of mobile phone footage," the Age quoted Sexton as telling the hearing at the Victorian County Court.
Sexton said the filming was not so much a "frolic of his (Calvert's) own, but an alcohol-fuelled product of the environment that he experienced".
He said the incident at the East Brunswick home was opportunistic rather than planned or premeditated.
Calvert, of Thomastown, had pleaded not guilty to one count of indecent assault and four counts of rape.
The jury found Calvert guilty of two counts of rape but not guilty on the other rape and indecent assault charges.
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