Man from high-profile Melbourne family found guilty of raping woman while pretending to be her boyfriend | Victoria

A man from a high-profile family was found guilty of raping a woman in her own home.

The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, denied two rape charges and took the case to trial in the Victorian district court.

On Friday, the jury announced its verdicts after less than two days of deliberations.

Prosecutors said he 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.

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The offender then lied to the woman, telling her that her boyfriend would be returning upstairs because his Uber was cancelled.

The attacker, who entered the dark bedroom a short time later and pretended to be the woman’s boyfriend, then digitally raped the woman twice.

In the following days, the man allegedly altered the Uber bill to make it look like the complainant’s boyfriend had left home after 2.30am.

The man admitted to forging the receipt but said he did so because he panicked after being falsely accused of rape.

Crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams told the jury the man told a series of lies to deflect blame.

He asked the jury to disregard the man’s denials and instead believe the alleged victim who presented clear, consistent and convincing evidence.

Defense barrister David Hallowes SC argued his client was telling the truth and that it was possible the woman’s mind was playing tricks on him.

After hearing seven days of evidence and legal argument, the jury retired to begin deliberations at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

The 12 jurors returned guilty verdicts shortly after noon Friday.

As the verdicts were announced, the man collapsed in his seat with his head in his hands while his mother cried in court.