Remzi Bektasovski sexually assaulting Holly Leppard, under section 61HE
By the same jury, a convicted rapist was acquitted of a separate sexual assault.
Two courageous women rose up to put a murderer to justice, but the jury believed only one of them, horrifying her.
When Holly Leppard's rapist was apprehended, she sobbed in relief. Her tears soon turned to shock upon learning that the same jury had convicted the same man of sexual assault against another woman.
The jury determined that while Ms Leppard did not agree, the other victim "could not have communicated her lack of consent."
“My heart sank when I learned that, for her, and I was concerned about what it meant for my case,” the now-21-year-old said in her first public statement.
"However, he then said, 'The jury found him guilty in your case.' I just wept.”
The two women became allies during their ordeal, and the disparate verdicts served as a reminder of how difficult it is to prosecute sex crimes in New South Wales.
Ms Leppard was seventeen years old at the time of her attack.
She reported the attack to police weeks later but remained silent until police contacted her again more than a year later and informed her that another woman had come forward claiming martial arts instructor Remzi Bektasovski, 22, sexually assaulted her as well.
She then approached the microphone to make her own comment.
“I reasoned that if I didn't, I would regret it and would spend the rest of my life worrying what would have happened if I had done nothing,” she said.
“I was unaware of how large it would grow as well. At first, I thought I was assisting this person, but after realizing the magnitude of my situation, I realized I was also assisting myself.
“I gained a lot of trust in myself and realized I wasn't doing it for someone else.”
Bektasovski was charged with sexual harassment in 2017 after pleading not guilty.
For the victims, it seemed as if it was a reflection of whether or not they had been believed.
Both cases revolved around the question of consent — a convoluted legal term that juries grapple with on a weekly basis throughout sexual harassment trials.
The emphasis shifted to the victims' ability to demonstrate they did not consent to the sexual activity and whether Bektasovski knew or should have known.
The jury determined that Ms Leppard did not consent to being assaulted.
However, in the case of the second complainant, the same jury returned a not-guilty verdict.
On March 30, Bektasovski was sentenced to a term of five and a half years in prison, with a three-year and four-month non-parole period.
Today, with the assistance of Ms Leppard and in collaboration with the Rape And Sexual Assault Advocacy and Research project, The Saturday and Sunday Telegraphs and news.com.au launch a campaign calling for a fundamental shift in the way the judicial system addresses sex crimes.
Among these are efforts to get the legal concept of consent amended under section 61HE of the Crimes Act to represent an affirmative consent model.
That is, a person does not consent if he or she does not express or demonstrate consent.
Additionally, we are requesting that the state legislature enact legislation requiring an individual to demonstrate what active and rational measures they took to obtain consent in order to invoke the honest and reasonable belief defense.
This represents an expectation that consent should be sought, conveyed, and maintained.