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Emily Woods

Former Cricket Australia exec spared jail for assaults

Timothy Whittaker has been spared jail time for sexually touching two men. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

A former Cricket Australia executive will not spend any time behind bars for sexually touching two younger male staffers without consent.

Ex-communications chief Timothy Joseph Whittaker, 38, appeared before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday, where he learned his fate after being found guilty of sexual assaults on two intoxicated men.

He touched one of the men without his consent after an end-of-season function on March 16, 2019.

After hours of drinking, Whittaker and a group of staffers went to his Abbotsford apartment.

The victim was asleep on the couch when the others left about 5am and he woke up in Whittaker's bed.

His pants were off and Whittaker was touching him without his consent.

The second victim had viewed Whittaker as a friend after the 38-year-old helped him get a job at Cricket Australia. 

He then sexually touched that man in bed after a night of drinking, on January 8, 2016. 

Magistrate Tim Gattuso said both young men were in a state of "intoxicated vulnerability" when Whittaker offended against them.

"You have left them with feelings of trauma, embarrassment and shame," he said.

He convicted Whittaker of the two charges and ordered he perform 300 hours of unpaid community work on a 30-month community corrections order.

He said Whittaker was under significant stress while working at Cricket Australia, as he was there during several high-profile incidents including the ball tampering and Tim Paine texting scandals

"I accept they contributed to your heavy reliance on alcohol over that period," Mr Gattuso said.

He also took into account a lengthy delay of more than seven years since the offending began, significant media attention, and Whittaker's previous good character, in deciding his sentence.

Whittaker resigned as CA's head of communications on March 15, 2019, to work for International Cricket Council in Dubai but he was removed from that position the next month.

He then started in a senior role at Australia Post, but resigned after an anonymous call to the organisation about the allegations, the court was told.

At the end of the hearing, defence barrister Dermot Dann KC said Whittaker planned to launch an appeal against the convictions.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028

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