A 22-year-old international student has alleged she was raped by a police officer in Sydney, Australia, after he offered her a lift and drove her to a park toilet in 2013. The woman claims the officer assaulted her in the toilet block, and she later filed a new complaint with New South Wales Police in 2025, saying she believes she was coerced.
Allegations and initial response
According to a statement from the time, the woman said she was “uncomfortable” and stopped the officer several times, but she ultimately determined the sex was consensual. A police statement said the woman chatted and flirted with two officers after her shift as an erotic dancer. The alleged victim claims the man she says raped her told her to keep it a secret while the other officer drove to them in their car. She was purportedly forced out of the vehicle as a superior's car was spotted.
Police contacted the woman in 2014 asking her to make a statement after the second officer filed a report. The incident was treated as misconduct, as the woman had said the incident was consensual, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Investigation and statement details
It is alleged that plain clothes officers asked her intimate questions in a cafe about the nature of the sexual contact, and the woman signed a statement inside a police car at 3.40am. She also claimed that police warned she could face prosecution for giving them false information.
The statement the woman gave did not include key details, she says, like the claim that the officer searched her bag in the toilet block, took her phone and that the alleged rape was penetrative. The woman said: “[I believe] the officer raped me as I did not have free choice in what happened and feared for my life.”
Outcome and new complaint
A spokesperson for NSW Police said in 2014 that police launched an investigation after receiving an internal complaint about an officer’s misconduct. “During the investigation no criminal offence was identified, and the officer was pursued departmentally,” the spokesperson said. The officer was dismissed in March 2015.
Police also investigated her new sexual assault report but said, despite extensive inquiries, there was insufficient evidence to proceed. “Every report of sexual violence to police is taken seriously and police are trained to respond with sensitivity and confidentiality,” the spokesperson said. “Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of sexual violence is urged to report the incident to police. The public is reminded that police will only ever investigate a sexual offence to the extent that the victim is comfortable.”
