A Canberra man who raped a woman he had previously dated later sent her a message apologising for "his awful behaviour", a court has heard.
Thomas Earle was yesterday found guilty of rape and committing an act of indecency after pleading not guilty to the crimes.
A jury in the ACT Supreme Court acquitted him of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, but convicted him of a third, as well as the act of indecency charge.
Earle's parents cried in court as the jury read out its verdict.
The court previously heard he and the victim had a brief intimate relationship before agreeing to be friends.
The ACT Supreme Court heard the pair continued to share the same bed several times afterwards, without any sexual intercourse, following nights out drinking together.
They met up on a night in December 2021 at the victim's house where they ate dinner, smoked marijuana, and inhaled jungle juice.
She said she woke up later to find Earle's hands in her pants, and told the court she was "frozen and couldn't do anything with her body".
The court heard he performed oral sex on her and then intercourse, but there were different accounts from the two about their movements in bed and how they were interpreted.
Prosecutor Beth Morrisroe told the court the victim could not have consented to the initial act of indecency because she was asleep.
She also pointed to several messages Earle sent the victim after the night of the rape saying not a day went by without him thinking about the incident.
"There's no excuse for my awful behaviour, I'm so sorry," he said.
"I want to make it right, I'm a stupid person who only considers what I want."
In response, Earle's lawyer, James Sabharwal, told the jurors it was not what was in his client's mind the following morning when he texted her that mattered, but instead what he was thinking at the time of the sexual acts.
Earle did not deny having sex with her on the night but Mr Sabharwal said the key issue was whether his client knew she did not give consent.
He referred to a question the complainant was asked, which was whether there was any reason Earle would know she was in pain or did not want it to happen.
She replied: "No I don't think so, I was very quiet and still, the only thing I did was at one point I let out a groan."
Earle is expected to be sentenced in April.
