Overview

• District Judge Christopher Williams sentenced Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu for assaults on a 14-year-old girl and an adult woman after a three-day trial earlier this month.
• The court ordered 10 years on the sex offenders register, a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and imposed prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.
• Victim statements described lasting fear and anxiety, and the judge said Kebatu’s remorse related to the repercussions rather than the offences.
• The case led to weeks of protests at the Bell Hotel in Epping and at other asylum hotels, and seven men charged over related disorder now have trials set in March and June 2026.
• Authorities said Kebatu arrived by small boat days before the incidents, and separate High Court litigation over the Bell Hotel’s use for asylum accommodation continues in October.