‘Like a murder scene’: Jury delivers child rape verdict

A jury has delivered its verdict after allegations of the shocking rape of a 16-year-old were aired in court.

A JURY has found an 18-year-old man guilty of two counts of rape and not guilty to a further charge of rape after a 16-year-old girl was left unable to walk after a vicious sexual attack at a party of school friends last year.

The male who was 17 when the incident occurred pleaded not guilty to the three charges when a trial commenced in the Townsville Childrens Court on Friday.

The jury heard there was a bet between two boys, including the boy on trial, to see who could sleep with the girl first, with the winner to receive a carton of beer.

Four witnesses aged 18 who were present at the party gave evidence in the trial on Monday.

One witness recalled seeing the girl crying on the carpet in the bedroom after the rape occurred, and said he saw blood stains on the doona.

Another witness, a girl, said the 16-year-old told her after the incident she asked the boy to stop “but he kept going”.

“She was in pain, she was crying, she couldn’t get up,” the witness said.

A witness who was also party to the alleged bet said the defendant walked with a towel around him and said “I did it”.

In her closing remarks on Tuesday, Crown Prosecutor Shannon Sutherland said the victim “screamed and said no” but the boy “kept going and even choked her”.

“It was like a murder scene when he was finished,” Ms Sutherland said.

Ms Sutherland said the girl did not consent to the three acts - vaginal, anal and oral penetration, forming the three charges.

The boy’s defence barrister Michael Hibble said there were “problems” with the Crown’s narrative.

He suggested the girl was attempting to deceive police and was “manipulative” and ultimately “ashamed of her own choices”.

“It was not the sex she imagined,” Mr Hibble said.

The jury retired to deliberate for 30 minutes on Tuesday afternoon before reaching its decision.

The boy was found guilty of anal and oral rape and not guilty of vaginal rape.

The matters will return to court on September 15 for sentence.

Originally published as ‘Like a murder scene’: Jury delivers child rape verdict