A high-profile Melbourne man was called a rapist and punched in the face by his former personal assistant shortly after he allegedly raped her at his home, a Victorian court has heard. The man, who cannot be named, faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in Victoria’s county court and has pleaded not guilty. Opening submissions in the case were heard on Wednesday.
Alleged Incident in March 2023
Prosecutor Matthew Fisher told the court that the alleged offences occurred in March 2023 after the woman said she spent an evening drinking and taking cocaine with the man while listening to music and watching football at his friend’s home. At the end of the night, the woman was at the man’s house when he tried to kiss her and sexually assaulted her. She pushed his hands away and told him “I don’t want this,” Fisher told the court, to which the man responded “you’re so sexy,” “I can’t sleep, help me” and “I need this.”
The woman then felt the man rape her twice, Fisher told the court. “She turned around to face him, and at that point she punched him with her fist to his face, to his nose,” Fisher said. “He grabbed his face and said words to the effect of ‘you’ve broken my nose.’” The woman got out of bed and said, “you’re a fucking rapist.” Fisher said the man started saying that he shouldn’t have drunk, that his nose was “fucked” and “why did I do this,” to which she responded, “shut the fuck up, you’ve just done this to me, you’re a rapist.”
Victim's Actions After the Alleged Assault
Following the alleged assault, the woman went to another room and started taking notes of what happened on her phone. She then texted her mother, who called the police despite her daughter’s reluctance to involve them. Police arrived at the property shortly after an officer called the woman about 3am on 24 March 2023. The officer and two others spoke to the woman, and one recorded the exchange on a body-worn camera. The footage of that 35-minute conversation was expected to be shown to the jury, Fisher said.
Background of the Relationship
The woman had worked for several months as the man’s personal assistant the previous year, and they had resumed contact to discuss other employment opportunities when he invited her to his property. Fisher said the woman was expected to give evidence that the man previously made sexual advances towards her, but she had made clear she was not attracted to him. “If I let you do this, if I let you fuck me, you will never respect me as your employee,” the woman said she told the accused after one of these previous advances, the court heard.
Defence Challenges Credibility
But the man’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, told the court that the alleged victim had “massive issues” in relation to her credibility and reliability, including having previously made false allegations against police. Dann said that the woman claimed she continued to stay in the house after the alleged rapes and sexual assault and was reluctant to contact authorities because of a prior allegation involving police that had been found to be false. She also raised the issue of “recompense” with her mother while she was still at the accused’s house in the aftermath of the incident.
“As the mother is trying to persuade the daughter to leave the premises, the company of the man who has allegedly raped her a number of times, [the complainant] doesn’t want to do that,” Dann told the court. “[She] sends back messages talking about recompense and trying to resolve things and negotiate.” Dann said that much of her account was in dispute, including previous advances that the man was alleged to have made, and that he was consuming cocaine on the night of the incident. “There is a massive issue in relation to [her] credibility,” Dann said. “A massive issue in respect to reliability. Massive issue in respect to consistency. Massive issue in respect to plausibility.”
Trial Continues
The woman was expected to give evidence before a closed court on Wednesday afternoon. The trial continues.
