The migrant footy player, 24, who raped a child four times and only stopped because he got a girlfriend has been jailed for just two years – and may not even be deported from Australia.
Williami Teukava Fakavamo Paki Mackete jailed ex-rugby league player found guilty of raping he met his victim through work as a teacher’s aide
A rugby league player has been jailed for two years after he raped a child he met after getting a job as an unqualified teaching assistant.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo Paki, 24, moved from New Zealand to Emerald in Queensland’s Central Highlands where he signed with QRL club Mackay Cutters in 2018.
Mackay District Court heard that an injury forced him to quit the game the following year. He got a job at a school in the area where he met his victim despite having no educational qualifications, reports The Daily Mercury.
Paki pleaded not guilty to charges of digital rape and indecency with a child, but a jury disagreed, finding him guilty of four counts of rape on Thursday.
He was acquitted of indecency with a child charge.
Viliami Teukava Fakavamo played for the Cutters at Paki Mak but left in 2019 due to injury. He then got a job as a teacher’s aide where he met the victim (stock photo)
A conviction was recorded which normally would have required him to be deported under immigration law for failing the ‘good character’ test.
But Paki could be allowed to stay in Australia, according to his defense barrister, who said the government would consider how long he had lived in the country and the seriousness of his crimes.
The court heard the offending took place over two months in 2020 and Paki only stopped when other women her own age ‘started showing an interest in him’.
There were no threats of violence or involving drugs and alcohol.
Judge Michael Byrne said the offender had ‘intruded upon the normal upbringing of a (tragic) girl.
He said Paki had developed the idea that the offender was not a predator in part due to ‘immaturity’.
Judge Byrne said: ‘The jury accepted that you entered digitally on four occasions.
The 24-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison and will serve two years behind bars with the remaining two years suspended.