Joshua John Wilton on trial for three counts of raping 16-year-old girl

A young man accused of three counts of rape allegedly held a teenager down before he and a younger co-accused sexually assaulted her, a court has heard.

A young man accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 2023 allegedly held the teenager down while his co-accused sexually assaulted her, before the pair switched roles and the heinous act was repeated, a court has heard.

Joshua John Wilton, 20, is currently appearing in the District Court in front of Judge Anthony Allen for his trial by jury, charged with three counts of rape. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord KC told the jury the girl, Mr Wilton – then 19 – and his co-accused, then 16, had used drugs and alcohol together over the course of a few days and had arrived at Mr Wilton’s Hackham address when the accused “became aggressive” and “(the complainant) wanted to leave”.

Joshua John Wilton is on trial in the District Court charged with three counts of rape. Picture: Facebook

“The accused grabbed (the complainant’s) shoulders and pushed her down on to a mattress on the lounge room floor and said to (the co-accused) something like ‘now is your chance, like now you can get what you’ve wanted’,” Ms Boord said.

“They were working as a team. Their common purpose, on the prosecution case, was to sexually assault (the complainant).

“The accused then held (the girl) down with his knee on her waist area. (The girl) yelled repeatedly for him to stop and said ‘no’ on a number of occasions and thrashed her legs around.

“The accused then took his pants off and said words to the effect of ‘you’ve had your chance – now it’s my turn’.”

The court heard that after the alleged rape, the complainant sent a text message to her mum asking her to “come get me”.

Appearing in the District Court earlier this week to give evidence, the complainant’s mum told the court her daughter was “inconsolable”.

“I pulled on to the side of the road, opened the door and she was just on the ground screaming and crying,” she said.

“I ran out of the car to get her and she just screamed: ‘Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me. I need to go’.

“If I was to guess I would say she was definitely under the influence of something – like she had been drugged.”

The court heard the complainant had told a police officer on the night of the alleged offending that she had been “pinned to the bed” and raped.

“I got drunk then got into an argument with the people I was with,” she said. “They then got really mad, pinned me to the bed, tied my hands up and took turns raping me.”

The expected five-day trial continues.

Originally published as Joshua John Wilton on trial for three counts of raping 16-year-old girl