Uber driver Santherathas Navaratnam sentenced in Ballarat court

A 19-year-old woman who was sexually assaulted by a Ballarat Uber driver said she had lost trust in people and suffered depression since the frightening experience.

Santherathas Navaratnam was sentenced at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday on four counts of sexual assault.

The Sri Lankan asylum seeker, who has been in Australia for eight years, kissed and inappropriately touched an intoxicated teenager on a dark rural road as he drove her home on March 30 last year.

Navaratnam stopped the car once and assisted the woman while she vomited.

The court heard he stopped the car a second time in a remote location where he kissed her, placed his hands on her neck, then exposed her breast before kissing and sucking it.

Your victim was in a vulnerable state and you knew it.Magistrate Ron Saines

Navaratnam put his hands under the victim's dress and touched her underwear.

The teenager read her victim impact statement to the court on Monday and said she had been diagnosed with depression, stopped eating properly, drank more alcohol and lost weight since the incident.

She said she had lost work hours as she was not able to concentrate and spent a lot of time alone in her room.

The victim said the experience had affected her relationships and she had been seeing a psychologist for help.

"I don't trust people, especially males," she said.

Magistrate Ron Saines said this was serious offending and he took into account the woman's victim impact statement in sentencing.

"Your victim was in a vulnerable state and you knew it," he said.

A Tamil interpreter was present in court to interpret Mr Saines' sentencing remarks to Navaratnam.

Mr Saines said some factors allowed Navaratnam a level of leniency in sentencing, including his guilty plea, absence of prior criminal history and mental health struggles.

The court heard Navaratnam was in Australia on a Temporary Protection Visa and had minimal contact with his wife and child who remained in Sri Lanka.

Mr Saines said these circumstances did not 'justify, excuse or diminish' the seriousness of offending, but long term mental health difficulties may have contributed to poor decision making.

"This does not excuse sexual assault, but it is part of a setting in which you acted in an opportunistic manner to pursue some personal sexual gratification without consent and at the cost of another person," he said.

Navaratnam was sentenced to a 30-month community corrections order.

He will be required to undergo supervision, education and counselling for sexual offending, mental health treatment and 200 hours of unpaid community work.

He must comply with the Sex Offenders Registration Act for eight years and was ordered to provide a forensic sample for Victoria Police.

Navaratnam cried in court when his sentencing was finalised.

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