In a second bedroom, the victim had consensual sex with the accused’s friend before he left to call and Uber and go home, arriving there just after 2am.
McWilliams said after his male friend had left, the offender went into the victim’s room, telling her the man’s Uber had been cancelled, he was unable to get another one, and would be back upstairs soon.
“None of that was true,” McWilliams said.
“The accused closed the door and left. A short time later, the bedroom door opened and closed quickly. No lights were on and blackout style curtains on the windows were drawn.”
While unable to make out that the person entering was not the man she’d just had sex with, the victim told police the person climbed into her bed and reached around the front to put his hands down into her vagina.
“She was not consenting to be penetrated by the accused. It startled the complainant [who said] ‘wait, stop’,” Williams said.
The incident continued until the victim was able to wriggle away. When she asked if it was the male friend who had reportedly left and returned, they replied: “yeah it’s me, why wouldn’t it be”.
“You sound a lot like [the offender],” the woman replied.
After refusing to turn on the light, McWilliams said the offender raped the woman again, holding her and her hands down despite being told to stop.
The woman said she was eventually able to get her hands free and feel the person’s hair and face which she said matched that of the offender.
He then ran from the room, slamming the door behind him, but not before the victim said she could see his longer hair in the hallway light.
The victim left the house at 2.24am, contacting friends and family while distressed and crying, telling them she had been raped.
The offender, at about 8.30am, began texting and calling his friend obtaining a copy of the Uber receipt and altering the time of the journey to suggest the friend did not leave the house until 2.37am.
“Yeah for now don’t get involved, let me handle it,” the offender wrote.
“Just say you went into [the complaint’s] room when your Uber cancelled. I just want to make sure [her] lies don’t f— us up.”
The victim reported the case to police and made a recorded phone call to the offender in which he told her it would be a real reassurance if she’d just “move on with her life”.
“These were rapes committed not through threats, not through force, not through the use of any additional violence. Rather, initially at least, through deception,” McWilliams said.
“He then attempted to avoid accountability with even more deception.”
Defence barrister David Hallowes, SC, said his client maintained his innocence over the two counts of rape.
Hallowes said five character references indicated his client was a humble, respectful and honest person who was respectful to all people.
He said it made no sense for his client to commit the offending only a room away from where his girlfriend, who he had deep admiration for, was sleeping.
“He is innocent of both of these charges,” Hallowes said.
“Witnesses who believe what they’re saying can get things wrong. We do say she has got things wrong.
“He did not go into that room. He did not get into bed. He did not commit those offences that are alleged.
“Was this really a tight-knit group of friends, or … were some closer than others?”
The case will return for a plea hearing next week.
Support is available from the National Domestic Family and Sexual Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) and Victims of Crime Helpline (1800 819 817).
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