Rape-accused intruder argues elderly woman attacked him
An aged care trespasser has denied raping a 76-year-old woman and said he pulled her onto his bed and gave her a bear hug after realizing she had found him in her room.
Hayden Carl Skinner, 31, is accused of sexually assaulting the elderly woman during a burglary in the early hours of New Year’s Day 2024.
Giving evidence at Monday’s solo judge hearing, the man said he was looking for valuables to steal from a Coffs Harbor aged care home for fear of being attacked over a drug debt.
He said he climbed the fence of the northern NSW facility and entered the room through an unlocked sliding door, crawling on his hands and knees while the 76-year-old woman slept in her bed.
Skinner told District Court Judge Michael McHugh that before the woman woke up, his sweaty hand touched a “spongy” piece of clothing on the floor and threatened her.
“Who do you think you are?” He is alleged to have said.
When he stood up to run away, he grabbed her by the shirt.
In her statement, the old woman said, “No, you don’t do this, you won’t get away with it.”
She then used her body weight to fall backwards and pull him down, he told the court.
“I caught him and changed his fall towards the bed so he wouldn’t fall on the drawers and get hurt,” Skinner said.
The two were struggling on the bed, with the woman leaning over Skinner in a bear hug.
After she partially freed herself, the 76-year-old man testified that he grabbed her by the genitals before reaching out and grabbing her hair.
She claims that while the woman’s legs were wrapped around his waist, he grabbed her by the inner thighs and tried to pull her apart and free her.
He said he eventually left the 76-year-old before fleeing the room.
“Have you tried having sex with her?” public defender Peter Pearsall asked.
“No,” the 31-year-old actress replied.
Skinner said he didn’t notice whether the older woman was wearing pants, but he could see her legs during the struggle.
Earlier in the hearing, Judge McHugh heard a registered nurse found the distressed woman half-naked, screaming and trying to enter another resident’s room after the alleged rape.
The woman said the rapist was wearing jeans and earrings.
But CCTV footage shown to the court showed Skinner wearing a T-shirt and shorts before and after the incident.
The person who testified Monday said that although he had his ears pierced as a child, he had not worn earrings recently.
Skinner, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault, is accused of removing her pants, underwear and incontinence pad before sexually assaulting her.
The Crown alleges his DNA was found on the woman’s trousers, which police found on the floor next to her bed.
The court accepted that the woman, who has since died from unrelated causes, had displayed some odd behavior and “racist attitudes” and was an unreliable witness.
The trial continues.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Resolution Support Service 1800 211 028
