Former Shake & Stir star Leon Cain cleared of three rape charges relating to past UniSQ student

A Brisbane actor accused of raping a former university student multiple times when he was a guest lecturer has been cleared of all charges.

Brisbane actor Leon Gerard Wilson Cain was cleared of three counts of rape before Toowoomba Magistrates Court relating to an incident with a former University of Southern Queensland student. Picture: Supplied.

A Brisbane actor who featured in multiple television and theatre productions has been cleared of three historic rape charges after a Toowoomba magistrate ruled in his favour.

Leon Gerard Wilson Cain, 41, appeared before Toowoomba Magistrates Court for a committal hearing on Tuesday, July 1 after he was accused of three counts of rape.

The offences were alleged to have occurred around the time Mr Cain was employed by the University of Southern Queensland as a guest lecturer in 2011.

Brisbane actor Leon Cain pictured with Australian pop duo The Veronicas. There is no connection between The Veronicas and this case. Picture: Supplied

Mr Cain is best known for his theatre work, having previously starred in multiple Queensland Theatre and Shake & Stir Theatre Co productions including a 2024 Shake & Stir production of Fantastic Mr Fox.

He also made appearances on the Australian television series Harrow, H2O Just Add Water and Young Rock.

The complainant, a UniSQ student at the time, alleged a heavily intoxicated Mr Cain raped her repeatedly during a gathering at a private address in August 2011.

In a statement to police, summarised in court, the complainant stated she continually told Mr Cain ‘no’ in response to alleged sexual advances that night, before she claimed he raped her three times.

Brisbane actor Leon Cain was cleared of three counts of rape before Toowoomba Magistrates Court on July 1. Picture: Supplied

She told police she froze at this point.

“I stopped trying to tell Leon no at this point, I couldn’t speak anymore,” the complainant stated to police.

The woman also accused Mr Cain of engaging in an inappropriate relationship with her and another student while at the university, telling the court there had been previously consensual sexual activity.

In cross examination, defence barrister Gregory McGuire questioned the complainant regarding Facebook messages shared between her and Mr Cain in the lead up to the night.

During the proceedings, it was uncovered only eight of 47 pages of messages between Mr Cain and the woman were handed to police by the complainant before the committal.

A large collection of the newly discovered messages revealed sexually explicit or suggestive messages from Mr Cain and the complainant.

“You knew that would lead him on and falsely think that you were interested in him sexually,” Mr McGuire said of the complainant’s messages.

“You say you didn’t know how to say ‘this is strange’ and ‘it should stop’, but what you did was indicate to him you were very happy with (the sexual messages), correct?”

Throughout the proceedings, the complainant denied any sexual attraction to Mr Cain but conceded he would have likely taken her messages as a sign of her interest.

“I was going along with something that had been established in these conversations and I was putting forward presentations that I was attracted to him,” she stated.

“I felt incredibly uncomfortable and backed into a corner at this time, I didn’t know how to handle the situation that had arisen.”

Leon Cain playing Michael in a Queensland Theatre production of Family Values in 2023. Picture: Steve Pohlner.

Mr McGuire pressed the complainant on why she had decided to withhold the majority of the sexually suggestive messages from police.

“The misunderstanding I had from (the officer) was to send things that were (referenced) in my statement,” the complainant replied.

“If I had known that they wanted the whole thing, I would have sent the whole thing.”

The vast majority of messages presented to the court occurred before the alleged incident with only one brief conversation after the alleged event.

The court was not presented evidence of sexual messages exchanged following the alleged acts.

Mr McGuire did not question the complainant regarding her account of the alleged rapes despite the claims she explicitly told Mr Cain to stop; however, he said the woman ceased verbalising her opposition before the alleged the rapes occurred.

“She describes an incident where before the penetrative acts, that constituted the (alleged) rapes, occurred she stopped trying to tell him no,” he said.

Mr McGuire brought forward a no case submission, citing the complainant’s “explanations for not providing any of that sexual innuendo to the police officer was unbelievable”.

Acting magistrate Kay Ryan ruled the complainant’s evidence was unreliable, pointing to the missing messages.

“I found it an interesting explanation given by the complainant when asked why the conversations were not provided to police at the time of making her complaint,” Ms Ryan said.

“The contents of the undisclosed Facebook messenger conversations clearly suggest the complainant’s sexual inclinations towards the defendant.

“She kept up an ongoing conversation with the defendant along sexual lines … she says that she did not know how to get out of this conversation.”

Mr Cain was discharged of all three counts of rape.

The charges, now dropped, were first brought forward in June of last year.

Originally published as Former Shake & Stir star Leon Cain cleared of three rape charges relating to past UniSQ student