Atherton Tablelands man Scott Robert Owen pleads not guilty to rape and indecent treatment of 11-year-old girl

An 11-year-old girl was lured to a bathroom during a party on the Atherton Tablelands and raped, a Cairns District Court jury was told.

An 11-year-old girl was lured to a bathroom during a party on the Atherton Tablelands and raped, a Cairns District Court jury was told on Thursday.

Scott Robert Owen has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and one count of indecent treatment at the start of a trial before Judge Joshua Trevino KC.

Principal crown prosecutor Aaron Dunkerton told the jury the party continued into the early hours of the morning with a campfire and music, and the girl was asleep in the lounge with other children.

“She was woken in the middle of the night by someone she described as having a big hand rubbing her chest,” Mr Dunkerton said.

“He called her beautiful and he kissed her, and that is count one.”

Mr Dunkerton said she got up and went to the toilet and returned to the couch and the man returned to the couch.

“She could see who was in the room, there was a light on in the house … he whispered to her and ushered her to the bathroom and she complied because she was scared and did not know what would happen if she didn’t,” Mr Dunkerton said.

He said the girl saw Mr Owen clearly as the bathroom light was on.

Mr Dunkerton said he locked the door, lifted her top up, pulled down her pants and allegedly assaulted her.

The 11-year-old girl alleged she was raped while at a party with a campfire on the Atherton Tablelands. Picture: file picture

Following the alleged rape, Mr Dunkerton said the girl went outside where her mother was asleep in a swag on the veranda, “she was scared and had wobbly legs” and she got in to the swag and fell asleep.

“She described that she did not know the man, but identified, among other things, that he was wearing a maroon collared shirt, which you’ll hear described as an Evolution shirt,” he said.

He said the girl told her mother the following day, and was interviewed by police before giving prerecorded evidence in court.

He said in the video, the defence barrister would suggest to the girl that he did not kiss her or rape her, and she disagreed.

Mr Dunkerton said it was also suggested to her that she made it up to get attention from her friends.

He said the defendant’s wife would give evidence that she went to bed in a spare room, he came in and got changed, and came to bed later that night.

The girl said she was too scared not to comply when ushered into a bathroom, Cairns District Court heard on Thursday.

Defence barrister Brydie Bilic said “Mr Owen did not do these things” and that the crown case rose and fell on the maroon Evolution shirt.

“There’s no dispute that my client owned this shirt or he was wearing this shirt – what you’re going to have consider and listen to the evidence very carefully is when, at what stage of the party he was wearing this shirt, and at what stage he wasn’t,” Ms Bilic said.

“This case is about the evolution of a lie.”

She urged the jury to listen for evidence of a claim of being raped when a particular song was playing and a claim about being raped outside a toilet block at a party.

“Look for how this complaint has evolved and how it moves from teen drama into the adult world,” Ms Bilic said.

“It has to be proven that Scott Owen is the person who the crown says has done these things,” she said, saying evidence about when he was wearing the shirt was critical.

“Listen for evidence about a distinctive tattoo and an injury – the defence case includes a challenge as to the issue of identification,” Ms Bilic said.

She urged the jury to consider logic and common sense and “does this (girl’s) secret business really add up as you go through all of that?

“Scrutinise all of the evidence very carefully.”

The trial continues.

Originally published as Atherton Tablelands man Scott Robert Owen pleads not guilty to rape and indecent treatment of 11-year-old girl