A well-known man allegedly touched a woman’s breast after she woke up naked in her bed after spending the night at his home, a court heard.
The woman is the second of six complainants to appear in the NSW Downing Centre District Court in a trial expected to last 10 weeks. It follows the first complainant who alleged the man raped her when she was a trainee.
The woman, known as complainant two and aged 21 at the time, alleges the man indecently assaulted her by touching her breast and told the court that in the mid-2010s she went to the man’s house, whose work she “admired”, and they took MDMA there.
He told the court the drug made him feel “euphoric” but later felt “overwhelmed” and had to lie down and take deep breaths.
“At one point, I laid down, closed my eyes, and woke up in his bed,” she said.
She claims that after she woke up she realised both she and the man were naked and that he touched her breast. “I said ‘I don’t want to do this’… Then I realised I wasn’t wearing my bra or underwear,” the woman recalled in court. She claims the man then told her his girlfriend was coming home soon and that she had to leave.
The defendant, who Guardian Australia cannot name because of a suppression order, is on trial after pleading not guilty to 12 charges, including six counts of rape, allegedly committed against six women in separate incidents over a six-year period.
The prosecution alleges that the man often had sexual intercourse with much younger women, that he knew the women were not consenting or that he was reckless against their consent.
The man’s defence claims there was “no sexual contact whatsoever” with the two complainants. His defence claims there was sex with five other women who claim they were raped. But his defence claims the sex was consensual, “not in the circumstances alleged by the crown” and that the complainants “admired and even idolised the defendant”.
Complainant two told the court she connected with the man on Instagram after he tagged her in a post. They then connected on the platform and chatted about her “return” to the industry she was part of.
The woman claimed that the man later invited her to see his house.
The woman said she smoked a joint she had brought with her to calm her nerves before doing MDMA.
During cross-examination, the man’s defence barrister David Scully SC asked whether the woman had also taken Xanax to calm her nerves.
The woman, who said she used Xanax to relax and had severe anxiety problems, claimed she had not taken any medication that evening.
“I just brought a cigarette, that’s all,” he told the court.
Scully also told the woman that it was her idea for them both to use MDMA.
“No, he wanted to do MDMA,” he said.
The court heard on Tuesday that the complainant was “feeling the effects of MDMA very strong” and asked for water, when the man returned with a clear liquid in a martini glass and said: “Here is your special drink.” After this, the complainant said: “I started to get overwhelmed and had to lie down and take deep breaths.”
When asked by Scully if she thought it was “weird” that the man called it a “special drink”, she replied: “I have autism, I don’t notice social queues.”
When police later questioned her about why the “special drink” detail was not included in her statement, the woman replied: “I repressed the memories.”
The woman told the court the next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed “in the morning”. They were both naked in bed and she said the man then touched her breast.
During cross-examination Wednesday, Scully testified that the woman had texted a friend at 5:27 a.m. that she had been smoking a joint, an hour and a half before sunrise. He suggested that the woman had actually left the man’s house around 5 a.m. and was “making up” her story.
“Isn’t this a complete fabrication?” Scully asked.
“No it’s not, I was there,” replied complainant two.
Scully also questioned the complainant about the timing of reporting the incident to police after media reports emerged that the man had been accused of sexual offences. She then wrote on social media that she had reported it and spoke to the media later, the court heard.
The court heard the woman had also contacted another complainant in the court case. She asked him if he was involved and told him not to say anything because it could be considered “collusion”. The court heard the two complainants then video chatted for 25 minutes.
During questioning by prosecutor Adrian Robertson on Tuesday, the woman was asked about a text message exchange she had with a friend who was in a romantic relationship with her the day after the incident and with whom she had been in contact.
When telling her friend about the previous night at the man’s house, she said she had a “fun night” and that he had given her a book. She also said that the man “wasn’t trying to screw me.”
“Why did you write that?” Robertson asked.
“I didn’t want to [the friend] “To think I’m not cool,” the woman replied.
The hearing continues. The witness remains on the stand under cross-examination by defense counsel.