A music teacher who sexually assaulted a young male student in a Tarneit studio has had his jail sentence scrapped in favor of a community corrections order.
Dennis Butingan, 43, pleaded guilty in March to four counts of committing an indecent act against a child under 16 and was sentenced to three months behind bars.
He was later released on bail.
But last week an appeal in the County Court saw the jail sentence replaced by a two-year community corrections order with 120 hours of unpaid work.
Melbourne Magistrates Court heard in March that Butingan sexually assaulted the boy on a number of occasions.
An emotional victim impact statement from the boy’s mother spoke of her son’s sadness, hurt, anger and trust issues following the offence.
While prosecutors pushed for him to be jailed, Butingan’s appeal was successful, with his lawyers arguing he was undergoing counselling, was remorseful and had apologised to the boy and his family.
He was convicted of all charges and will be on the register of sexual offenders for the rest of his life.
– with The Age
