After a night of heavy drinking, a former BHP employee raped a coworker at a mining camp and was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
On November 18, 2020, in Newman, Western Australia’s Pilbara region, Ryan John Zabaznow, was found guilty of sexual penetration without consent.
His victim testified before the WA District Court that Zabaznow raped her after she fell asleep in her donga.
The jury disagreed after deliberating for approximately four hours despite the defendant’s denials and claims that his Facebook conversations proved the encounter was voluntary.
The woman expressed pride that her testimony spurred a parliamentary investigation into sexual assault and harassment within the WA fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) industry outside of court following Zabaznow’s sentencing on Monday.
She told reporters, “And that at the time, it was my voice that spoke for fellow FIFO workers within the industry who felt ashamed alone and too afraid to come forward.”
With what he did, “that man not only took away my happiness and my upbeat personality, he also took away my career, my goals, and my aspirations.”
The two, according to information provided to the court, proceeded to socialise after the camp bar closed while drinking with other FIFO employees before the assault.
Before engaging in alcohol-related activities with more coworkers outside the woman’s donga, Zabaznow and the woman had a private discussion regarding their previous relationships.
The woman, who claimed to have consumed roughly 15 mid-strength beers, began to feel ill as the evening progressed.
She passed out, vomited, and a friend put her to bed.
After her friend left the scene, the jury was told that Zabaznow went inside the woman’s room and crawled into her bed.
The victim testified to the jury that Zabaznow was raping her when she woke up.
She claimed that at first, she had no idea what was going on and had begun to cry.
When two other staff heard “sex noises and moaning” and knocked on the woman’s door to see how she was doing, the attack came to an end.
Zabaznow was discovered in the woman’s bed.
The firm continued to assist the woman, according to BHP, which stated in May that it took “courage and bravery” for her to speak up about her “traumatic” experience.
A spokesman added, “Sexual violence is totally unacceptable and has no place in our communities or in our workplaces.”
At BHP, we are committed to fostering a culture that is always safe, inclusive, and courteous. We are motivated to eradicate it from our workplaces.
In December 2020, BHP fired Zabaznow following an internal inquiry.
Zabaznow received a sentence of five years and two months in prison, with a three-year minimum sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
