A prominent figure from a well-known Australian family has been found guilty of rape after a late-night gathering at a Melbourne residence in early 2024. The verdict was delivered on Friday following a two-week trial at the Melbourne County Court.
The Night of the Attack
The court heard that the incident occurred in the early hours of the morning after a day of partying at the man's family home. The accused, his friend, and his girlfriend were present when the victim arrived just after midnight. The jury was told the victim had consensual sex with the accused's friend in an upstairs bedroom before he left the property.
Prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams detailed how the friend needed to move his car and woke the accused to help. The friend then departed in an Uber shortly before 2 a.m. The accused returned to the house and entered the bedroom where the victim was in bed, falsely claiming his friend's Uber had been cancelled and he would return shortly.
A Calculated Assault and Attempted Cover-Up
The man then pretended to be his friend and digitally raped the victim multiple times. The victim identified him as he left the room due to light from the hallway. She later messaged the friend to confirm he had left, discovering the discrepancy in timelines.
In a bid to conceal his crime, the accused engaged in a deliberate cover-up. He requested his friend's Uber receipt and doctored it to show a later departure time of 2:37 a.m. instead of the actual 1:58 a.m. He sent the fake receipt via Snapchat, inventing a story about an incident between his girlfriend and the victim.
Contradictory Evidence and Trial Testimony
The trial featured conflicting accounts. The friend testified he last saw the victim alone before 2 a.m. and confirmed receiving the falsified receipt. However, the accused's girlfriend, who remains in a relationship with him, told the jury she had a "clear memory" of the friend returning to ask for a condom.
Prosecutor McWilliams suggested the girlfriend had "tailored" her evidence to support her boyfriend's account, a claim she denied. Another witness, a friend of the victim, said the victim was left in the room believing she was safe and was later in tears and unable to comprehend what had happened.
Defence Claims and Jury's Decision
Defence barrister David Hallowes SC put the accused on the stand, where he denied the "far-fetched" allegations but admitted to lying and altering the Uber receipt due to stress. He claimed he panicked because he had never faced such an accusation before.
Under cross-examination, he admitted asking his friend to lie about his departure time. The jury, after deliberating for nearly two days, rejected his version of events. They found him guilty on both counts of rape.
The man's identity remains protected by a court-ordered suppression order. Trial judge Greg Lyon will sentence him at a later date.
