The sentence of three people who drove a terrified 20-year-old man into the bush and bashed him unconscious needs to deter other people from taking the law into their own hands, a court has been told.
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Cameron Carter, 20, Toni Cunningham, 34, Brian Johnston, 41, and a 16-year-old boy carried out the attack at Magpie on August 20, 2018, after finding out the man had sexually penetrated and indecently assaulted a four-year-old girl.
The group left the man lying in the bush in the dark with injuries including a brain hemorrhage, nose fracture and multiple bruises.
Carter, Cunningham and Johnston each pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury and false imprisonment at the County Court at Ballarat on Wednesday.
Judge Michael Bourke said although it was a serious attack, it was not a "very unfortunate circumstance of an innocent man".
Last month, the man was sentenced to nine years in jail, with a non-parole period of five-and-a-half years, for sexually penetrating a child under 10 and sexually assaulting her.
Defence counsels urged the court to consider non-custodial sentences for Carter, Cunningham and Johnston for their part in the incident.
Their 16-year-old co-accused was sentenced to a 12-month good behaviour bond at a Children's Court.
Crown prosecutor Daryl Brown highlighted vigilantism in the incident, telling the judge there was a "need to deter people from taking the law into their own hands".
After tracking down the complainant at a Ballarat park, Carter and the co-accused teenager punched the victim to the head a number of times causing him to fall to the ground, before Carter kicked him to the side of his body.
Johnston told the victim to get in his silver Chrysler sedan, which his partner Cunningham was driving. The four accused told the victim they were going to bash him and drive him into the bush.
They stopped at an unknown house where Johnston stood in front of the victim's car door, falsely imprisoning him. Cunningham continued driving and turned off the Midland Highway onto a track leading into Magpie bush land.
The complainant was told to get out of the car and he was punched in the head, before he was told to lay down on the ground.
The victim laid down on his stomach where Carter stomped on his head and was continually assaulted by the three men. Cunningham remained in the car, not looking at the bashing, with the music turned up.
The court was told at some stage, the victim lost consciousness during the assault and the three male accused returned to the car, leaving the victim on the ground.
After regaining consciousness, the victim started walking towards a property after seeing lights and a couple called triple-0.
Lawyer Andrew Madden, representing Carter, said his client was extremely angry towards the victim for sexually abusing the child.
"He knows he should not have got involved. He says he should have minded his own business," Mr Madden said.
But he said Carter, an apprentice plumber, was 19 at the time of the incident.
Mr Madden said when sentencing Carter, the court should consider a community correction order or youth justice order.
Jarred Hofman, representing Johnston, said his client was furious when he learned of the child's sexual abuse because he had witnessed a traumatic incident when he was younger.
The court was told Cunningham was not the principal offender of the bashing because she stayed in the vehicle and was not aware of the extent of the man's injuries.
Her barrister, Lisa Papadinas, said Cunningham, of Mount Pleasant, would not have been aware of what occurred outside the vehicle but she did turn the music up to block the yelling.
Judge Bourke said he was persuaded for her to be assessed for a community correction order. He ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared and adjourned her case to a date to be fixed.
A psychological report will be prepared for Johnston, also of Mount Pleasant, which will be tendered to the court at a further plea hearing and sentence at a date to be fixed.
Carter, of Sebastopol, will be assessed for a youth justice order and will be sentenced at a date to be fixed.
Carter, Cunningham, and Johnston's bail was extended until their next court appearance at the County Court.
