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A man who thought he was heavy-metal singer Ozzy Osborne has been jailed for drugging a woman he met through a telephone chatline so he could sexually assault her 13-year-old daughter.
Arthur Fairwell, 39, was on Friday sentenced by the NSW District Court to at least six years in prison for six offences over the May 2004 attack.
Fairwell threatened to cut the girl's throat during the assault, which took place at the home the girl shared with her mother at Bradbury, in Sydney's south west.
The court heard claims Fairwell was under the delusional belief he was Ozzy Osborne, the heavy metal rocker turned reality TV star.
When Fairwell learned Osborne had allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl, his obsessive beliefs compelled him to do the same, his barrister said.
Judge Helen Murrell said there was no evidence Fairwell was delusional or psychotic at the time of the offences.
However, she accepted he suffered from a chronic paranoid schizophrenic disorder and antisocial personality traits.
Fairwell's mental condition made the judge reluctant to use his case to highlight the dangers of people using telephone and internet dating services.
But their widespread use brought strangers together in potentially intimate circumstances, Judge Murrell said, and the courts should send a strong message "that the opportunities associated with such dating must not be abused".
The court was told Fairwell used a false name when he met his adult victim, a 50-year-old woman, through a telephone chatline.
In May 2004, he visited her home on the pretence of offering her a job.
He encouraged the woman and her 13-year-old daughter to drink alcohol and eat caramel custard he had brought with him.
Medical tests showed the woman and girl had consumed the sedative benzodiazepine, which can cause muscle weakness and impaired alertness.
When the mother passed out, Fairwell sexually assaulted the girl.
Fairwell had used his computer to research different sedatives, including "Rohypnol, date rape drug of choice", the court was told.
Judge Murrell said the girl was subjected to a "terrifying violation in her own home, a place where she was entitled to feel safe and secure".
She was attacked in a "climate of terror", with Fairwell holding her down and threatening to cut her throat if she did not shut up and do as he said.
"(Her mother) was rendered helpless and was unwittingly placed in a situation where she feels personally responsible for her daughter's suffering," Judge Murrell said.
Their ordeal would likely have an horrific lifelong impact, she added.
Fairwell, 39, pleaded guilty to six offences, including aggravated sexual intercourse without consent, aggravated indecent assault and administering a stupefying drug to the mother and daughter.
Judge Murrell discounted his sentence by 20 per cent in recognition of his guilty pleas, ordering him to serve a maximum 10 years behind bars.
With time already served Fairwell will be eligible for parole in 2010.
In 2003, when the Iranian-born Fairwell was known as Arash Farzad, he stood trial accused of raping a pregnant teenager he met on a telephone chatline, but was acquitted by a jury.
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