Rugby player sexually assaulted three teenagers in a bar

RUGBY PLAYER SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THREE TEENAGERS IN A BAR

Professional rugby player Api Ratuniyarawa received a prison sentence of nearly three years after admitting to sexually assaulting three teenage girls in a bar just days before he was scheduled to play for the Barbarians.

The 37-year-old Fiji international was in Cardiff ahead of a match against Wales last autumn when he assaulted the trio of young women within the VIP section of Cardiff’s Revolution bar.

Court proceedings revealed that Ratuniyarawa visited the bar over three consecutive nights with teammates and on each occasion, while intoxicated, assaulted one of the victims.

The case was heard at Cardiff Crown Court.

Ratuniyarawa, residing in The Orchard, Kislingbury, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.

He denied two additional charges of sexual assault concerning one of the women; these were ordered to remain on file.

In victim impact statements presented to the court, one woman described her experience: “My attack was sudden, unexpected, and extremely painful.

I felt degraded, humiliated, and embarrassed.

I continue to feel these effects.

It was a deeply personal and traumatic violation.” The judge sentenced him to two years and 10 months in prison, ordered him onto the sex offenders register for ten years, and imposed a three-year restraining order protecting one of the victims.

A father of four, Ratuniyarawa has previously played for Northampton Saints and in France.

Since London Irish, a Premiership club, went into receivership last summer, he had been without a team.

He had been hopeful that playing for the Barbarians esteemed invitational team might secure him a new contract but was ultimately forced to seek government benefits instead.