Ronny Hughes charged over alleged rape at Jo Gapper Dog Park

Horrifying allegations a “predator” picked up a young woman up at a shopping centre sexually assaulting her in a park have been revealed in court.

EDITOR'S NOTE: On June 22, 2023, SA Police withdrew their case against Mr Hughes. Read that story here.

A “predator” Costco worker already being investigated for allegedly trying to convince a schoolchild to have “sex” with him has been charged with rape over a separate incident, a court has heard.

Elizabeth South man Ronny Hughes was charged with two counts of engaging in sexual intercourse without consent over allegations he preyed on a young woman at Elizabeth City Centre and raped her at nearby Jo Gapper Dog Park.

Police prosecutor John Taliangis on Monday told the Elizabeth Magistrates Court Mr Hughes was filmed on CCTV circling the young woman in the shopping centre carpark on January 4 before she got into his car.

“He drove her to Jo Gapper Dog Park ... (the alleged victim) has asked what they were doing there and he said he was going to ‘take her to the toilets, pull her pants down and rape her’,” Mr Taliangis told the court.

“The (alleged) victim stayed by the car and (Mr Hughes) came back and told her that he was going to drug and rape her.

The young woman was charging her phone at Elizabeth City Centre. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The Jo Gapper park carpark and toilets where police allege one rape occurred. Picture: Google Maps

“Fearing for her safety she went into the toilets with (Mr Hughes).”

The court heard after the alleged toilet cubicle rape the woman asked to go back to the shopping centre.

While driving there, the court heard, Mr Hughes allegedly stopped at traffic lights, grabbed her head and forced her to perform a sex act.

Magistrate Mark Semmens heard Mr Hughes had been on a first-instance paedophile restraining order and was being investigated for other allegations of “predatory conduct” strikingly similar to the latest charges.

Mr Taliangis opposed all forms of bail for Mr Hughes, telling the court releasing him would pose an unacceptable risk to the community.

Duty solicitor Vageli Dimou told the court the allegations were “strenuously denied” and Mr Hughes had instructed there was “no intercourse whatsoever”.

Mr Dimou told the court Mr Hughes had been in a committed relationship for 20 years and had “very little criminal history”.

Mr Semmens denied Mr Hughes’s application for bail on grounds of the seriousness of the allegations, the possibility of interference in further investigations and the strength of the prosecution’s case.

He will next face court in April.