Callum Ferris Davies jailed for 18 years for sexually assaulting, choking little girl in Ellenbrook break-in

The distraught parents of a little girl who was sexually assaulted by an “opportunistic” predator who broke into their home say their family is still struggling with the traumatic events of 3.5 years ago. The couple, who cannot be identified, made the heartbreaking revelation as Callum Ferris Davies — who attacked their seven-year-old daughter two days after Christmas in 2021 — was jailed for 18 years. Speaking through tears, the mother, comforted by her husband, told the District Court how the 28-year-old’s actions that night had not only robbed their little girl of her innocence and sense of security but had fractured their once happy lives. She explained since that life-altering night her daughter had become withdrawn, was prone to emotional outbursts and could no longer sleep at night without one of her parents sitting beside her. The little girl constantly asked why it happened to her. “We sit and listen to why she is afraid to go to sleep and whether she will be safe tomorrow,” the mother said. “Sometimes it can take hours.” The mother also explained how she herself was now consumed by grief, has panic attacks and was undergoing counselling to deal with her overwhelming sense of fear. And she implored Judge David MacLean to take into account the profound and lasting impact Davies’ offending had had on her family and in particular her daughter, saying their future now rested in his hands. Sentencing Davies, Judge MacLean said the former apprentice chef and Edith Cowan University graduate had used “considerable violence” against the child and that he was motivated by his sexual interest in the girl. The court was told Davies had been roaming the streets of Ellenbrook on December 27, 2021 armed with duct tape in his backpack looking for a house to rob when he entered the family’s home via a bathroom window and saw the little girl’s light was on. When he entered the girl’s room, she woke so in a bid to stop her from screaming he at first covered her mouth with his hand but then used the tape he had in is bag. When the tape failed to stick, the court was told, he choked her until she fell unconscious and then sexually assaulted her. The court was told Davies felt “disgusted” with himself and tried to clean the girl by washing her in the bathroom and re-dressing her. At trial, Davies admitted he carried out the shocking crimes but that he was innocent by reason of mental impairment. He claimed he was suffering from psychosis at the time, was deprived of his capacity to control his actions and did not know what he was doing was wrong. While Judge MacLean accepted Davies may have had some impairment because of his autism, it did not amount to the total deprivation of his capacity to control his actions. He also said the offending was motivated by achieving Davies’ own sexual gratification. Judge MacLean jailed Davies for 18 years and made him eligible for parole.