Sudanese refugee jailed for Vic rape

A Sudanese refugee who raped a schoolgirl at a Melbourne park eight years ago has been jailed for at least three years.

Jal Galuak, 21, was sentenced in the Victorian County Court on Friday to a minimum of three years and six months for raping a 17-year-old in 2007.

Galuak pleaded guilty to raping the girl, and the court was told the then-13-year-old had threatened to kill her with a cricket bat as she walked to a friend's house in Murrumbeena.

Judge Wendy Wilmoth said Galuak had approached the girl to ask her for a lighter.

She obliged and continued walking as he and another youth followed her.

When Galuak threatened her with the bat, she offered him her iPod.

"You told her to 'shut the f*** up' and put her in a headlock," Judge Wilmoth said.

He argued with his friend, who implored him not to rape the terrified high school student.

The friend left and Galuak sexually assaulted the teenager.

After the attack he threatened to kill her and her friends if he saw them in "his" area.

"A very young woman was subjected to an attack which was humiliating, degrading and terrifying," Judge Wilmoth said.

It was not until 2011 that Galuak was linked to the attack after he provided a DNA sample following an arrest for drink driving.

Psychologists say Galuak is likely to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder linked to the civil war in Sudan.

The Sudanese refugee arrived in Australia in 2005 with his mother and siblings after the family fled to Egypt.

Galuak and his mother say he was tortured by rebels as a child.

The 21-year-old is illiterate and suffers from an intellectual disability and has previously been in youth detention.

"It must be said your prospects are poor," Judge Wilmoth said.