Accused from high-profile family denies raping woman

A man from a high-profile family has vehemently denied raping a woman while giving evidence at his own trial.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, gave evidence before a Victorian State Court jury on Monday after pleading not guilty to two rape charges.

He is alleged to have digitally raped his friend’s girlfriend at his home in Melbourne in the early hours of January 14, 2024.

The woman had consensual sex with her boyfriend at the home, the jury was told, but she then arranged for an Uber and left the property shortly before 2am.

The defendant then allegedly lied and told the woman she was returning upstairs because her boyfriend’s Uber was cancelled.

Prosecutors allege that the person who entered the dark bedroom a short time later was the defendant and pretended to be the woman’s boyfriend.

He allegedly digitally raped her but she managed to get away and directly asked if he was the accused.

The man claimed to be her boyfriend and allegedly grabbed both of her hands before digitally raping her again as she told him to stop.

She managed to free her hand and felt her hair, which was longer than her boyfriend’s, and that’s when the man allegedly stopped and fled the room.

He allegedly returned a few minutes later and acted as if nothing had happened, instead asking her if she was okay.

During the prosecutor’s interrogation, the man repeatedly denied raping the woman.

In his statement, he said, “I never entered that room and sexually assaulted (the complainant).”

The jury was told that in the following days the man doctored his Uber bill to make it look like the alleged victim’s boyfriend had left home after 2.30am.

The defendant admitted to forging the receipt into evidence but denied doing so to avoid taking responsibility for his crimes.

The hearing before Judge Gregory Lyon continues.

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