一名与政商界关系密切的墨尔本商人因强奸前私人助理被法庭判处有罪。[1][2][3]维多利亚郡法院陪审团裁定该男子犯有两项强奸罪和一项性侵犯罪。[1][2][3]陪审团由12名成员组成，[3]经过三周审判后于周二做出满票同意的裁定。[3]
案件涉及一名27岁女性，[1]她曾为被告人担任私人助理数月。[2]性侵事件发生于2023年3月23日，[3]地点在被告人位于墨尔本的住宅。[3]受害人的母亲于2023年3月24日凌晨3点左右报警。[2]受害人在法庭作证超过一周，[1]期间检控官Matthew Fisher表示她"是可信的证人，在整个法律程序中没有改变过她的故事"。[3]
辩护律师Dermot Dann KC对受害人的证词提出质疑，称其如同"虚构"，[3]并批评控方呈现的证据为"谎言、伪造、最近的发明、不一致之处和已被证实为明显虚假的证据的可怕混合体"。[1]然而陪审团驳回了辩护方的观点。[1]
判决宣布后，被告的保释被撤销，已被立即收押。[1][2]该商人的名字因法官Frank Gucciardo颁布的压制令而被保密。[3]媒体律师计划申请解除压制令以公开被告身份。[3]案件将在稍后择日宣判。[3]
A well-connected Melbourne businessman has been found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault following a three-week trial at the County Court of Victoria.[1][2][3] The jury, comprising 12 members, delivered a unanimous guilty verdict on all charges.[3] The victim was the defendant's former private assistant, a 27-year-old woman who alleged the offences occurred in March 2023 at the businessman's South Melbourne residence.[1][3]
The jury deliberated for three days before rejecting the defence's arguments and reaching its verdict.[1] During her testimony, which lasted over a week, the victim described refusing the defendant's advances, telling him: "If I let you do this, if I let you f--- me, you'll never respect me as your employee. I don't want that to be the role I play in your life. I'll never want to have sex with you."[1] The prosecutor, Matthew Fisher, characterised the victim as a credible witness who had not changed her account throughout the legal proceedings.[3] The defence counsel, Dermot Dann KC, argued that the victim's testimony amounted to fiction, describing what the prosecution presented as "a horrible mixture of lies, fabrications, recent inventions, inconsistencies and evidence that had been proved to be demonstrably false."[1]
A non-publication order prevents the disclosure of the defendant's identity.[1][3] Following the verdict, his bail was revoked and he was remanded in custody pending sentencing.[1][2] The prosecutor has indicated he may face a lengthy prison sentence.[2] Media lawyers have reportedly planned to seek the lifting of the suppression order.[3]