A high-profile Sydney man accused of raping five women raped one 19-year-old woman in his home while she was undertaking an internship with him, a court has heard.
The man, whom Guardian Australia cannot name due to a suppression order, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges alleged to have occurred over a six-year period against six women on separate occasions.
The charges include six counts of rape, two counts of indecent assault and one count of threatening to distribute an intimate video. It also includes one count of an act of indecency in which he allegedly “rubbed his penis” while propositioning a woman who was 18 at the time of the alleged offence.
The trial, which has been set down for 10 weeks, began on Tuesday. In the crown’s opening argument in the Sydney Downing Centre district court, prosecutor Adrian Robertson said he would be arguing the man had a “tendency” to conduct himself in a particular way.
“Namely, to carry out sexual conduct with usually much younger females, usually with limited warning, and little or no foreplay … with a particular state of mind, knowing they do not consent to the sexual contact with him or being reckless to it, or holding no honest belief based on reasonable grounds that they are,” he said.
The 19-year-old woman cut short her planned month-long internship after the rape allegedly occurred, the court heard.
Robertson told the court the man raped another 19-year-old woman in her home. Shortly before, Robertson alleged he’d “grabbed her throat and spat on her face”.
A year prior to that, when she was 18, she went to the man’s house with another friend, during which time she alleges he was smoking ice “with some women”, Robertson said. That night, she says she slept in a spare bedroom of the man’s house, Robertson added.
“She awoke to the accused lying on top of her, he was naked and trying to engage in sexual contact with her,” Robertson said. Over a period of 20 minutes he tried to convince her to have sex, during which she said no, and he then left the room.
In three of the incidents, the man had had consensual sex with the woman prior to allegedly raping them, Robertson said.
One woman, who was 19 at the time, had consensual sex with the man when she visited his home to talk about undertaking an internship with him, Robertson said.
The same woman alleges she was raped by the man a year later when she stayed in his spare bedroom, Robertson said.
Robertson said that in a text exchange in 2018 when the woman was then 22, the woman messaged the man saying “you should have taken responsibility for the power imbalance between us”.
She also texted him that when he allegedly raped her she told him she was in pain and wanted him to stop, Robertson said. He said the man then texted back an apology and said: “I wish I could take it back.”
Robertson told the court that in another text exchange that year the woman told the man she had been in contact with the police about the incident, “but wouldn’t proceed if he went to rehab”.
The man’s defence counsel, David Scully SC, said the man denied any sexual contact “whatsoever” for one woman, who alleged he touched her bare breast with his hand leading to a charge of indecent assault.
For the five other women, who alleged the man raped them, Scully said there was sex “with each and every one” but “not in the circumstances alleged by the crown”.
“Whenever [the man] had sex with any of the other complainants it was consensual,” Scully said.
“The complainants admired the accused, even idolised him,” Scully said. “That was the context in which the sex occurred but it was always consensual.”
Scully said the man also denied the assault alleged by two of the women.
He also said the man recorded videos of one woman with her “full knowledge” but that he never threatened to distribute the videos.
The trial continues on Tuesday.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org. The Stop It Now! helpline is 1800 011 800.
