Sarmad Milhim, 44, was jailed for five years and four months when he was sentenced at the Dunedin District Court in August on two charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, two indecent assaults and distributing an objectionable publication.
Parole Board panel convener Judge M. Crosbie said the facts of the case were "as serious as they are troubling".
In December 2023, Milhim heard raised voices at the victim’s flat and went to investigate.
Once there, he invited the victim and her children to his own home and shared alcohol with the woman.
Milhim then accompanied them back to their residence so the victim could put the children to bed but she soon passed out on a couch because of her intoxication.
Footage on the defendant’s cellphone revealed what happened next.
The video showed him molesting the unconscious woman as her preschool-aged child could be heard crying and pleading "don’t hurt my mum".
Milhim filmed himself smiling and poking out his tongue and later forwarded the recording to his brother in Syria, saying the "best thing" was that the child was encouraging him.
Days later, he went to the victim’s home again for coffee and tried to kiss her.
At sentencing, the court heard, she rejected his advances but he put his hand up her dress and pushed her on to her back before eventually leaving.
Milhim initially told police the acts were consensual and he had sent the video to his brother for "a laugh".
Judge Crosbie said the Otago Corrections Facility inmate’s comments around his level of intoxication and belief in consent were very concerning.
"There is no room for belief in consent (reasonable or unreasonable) given the facts that Mr Milhim accepted.
"Also troubling is the presence of a child during the offending and Mr Milhim’s subsequent, boasting, characterisation of that factor," he said.
The board heard Milhim intended to get back together with a former partner but it was clear that person had not been informed of the reason behind his incarceration.
The prisoner was an Iraqi refugee and because of his immigration status, he would not be liable for deportation.
Milhim’s rehabilitation was complicated, Judge Crosbie said, by language issues.
He had been recommended for alcohol and drug treatment as well as group therapy but that would only occur when his English skills were sufficient.
"The alternative, particularly given the seriousness of the offending and the issues involved such as the degree of degradation and presence of a child, might be psychological intervention," the judge said.
Milhim would remain a high-security prisoner until his status was reviewed next month.
There were no concrete accommodation proposals and parole was duly rejected.
Milhim will see the board again in November, his sentence expires in May 2029.
