David Blackbourne accused of raping 17-year-old girl at NSW police station
Warning: Upsetting details
A former NSW police officer is accused of raping a 17-year-old girl at a police station while on duty and in uniform, and the teenager and his friend were allegedly “confiscated” with alcohol months ago, a jury has been told.
David Robert Blackbourne, 56, has denied charges of two counts of indecent assault, two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and misconduct by a public official.
The alleged assault occurred 20 years ago in 1998 in a rural NSW town near the NSW-Victoria border, when Blackbourne was 28, according to prosecution.
His trial, expected to last five days, began Monday in Downing Center District Court.
The prosecution claimed in its opening statement that Mr Blackbourne and the teenage girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, met several times while the officer was working on a separate case and that the girl knew him only as “Dave”.
On one occasion in late 1998, the teenager was walking with his friend when Mr Blackbourne and another unidentified police officer offered the couple a ride home, the Crown alleges, but said they had to go back to the police station first.
At the police station, officers offered the girls an alcoholic drink, which was “confiscated” by police, the Crown said.
They were then given a look around the police station and cells before being dropped off home.
A few months later, Mr Blackbourne claimed he picked up the teenager, who had recently turned 17, from a local bar in a marked police car.
The Crown alleged Mr Blackbourne then handcuffed both of her wrists and stuck his tongue into her mouth without her consent.
The prosecution alleges that the complainant would claim that in October 1998 he went to the local police station after arranging to borrow a police cap to wear as a costume.
“You’re not leaving yet,” said Mr Blackbourne, who was wearing his police uniform. He then allegedly kissed her without her consent and stuck his tongue into her mouth.
He is then accused of having sexual intercourse with her without her consent.
The alleged victim spoke to Victoria Police about the incident years later in 2016, before NSW Police took over the investigation in November 2021.
In 2023, Mr. Blackbourne was arrested and charged.
In his opening statement for the defence, barrister Matthew Johnston SC said they strongly disputed all the allegations and denied that Mr Blackbourne held, handcuffed or kissed the complainant or engaged in any sexual intercourse, whether consensual or not.
They do not dispute that Mr Blackbourne was a police officer at the time of the alleged incident, but strongly object to any acts of sexual intercourse or misconduct.
The lawyer told the jury that the quality and reliability of the evidence could be questioned throughout the trial, given that the incident occurred more than two decades ago.
He said the jury would have to look “very carefully” at whether the complainant had genuine memories or whether they were adopted years later in a phone call to a police officer in 2020.
Judge Huw Baker SC reminded the jury that the onus was on the Crown to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial continues.
