Peng Yang trial: Nurse accused of raping St John of God patient, pleads not guilty

The trial for a nurse alleged to have raped and sexually assaulted a patient has started in the County Court in Geelong.

Peng Yang outside Geelong Court.

A former nurse standing trial in the County Court in Geelong for charges of sexual assault and rape has denied any wrongdoing, while his lawyer has taken aim at the alleged victim’s credibility.

Peng Yang, 38, also known as “Chris” was employed at the city’s St John of God Hospital when he allegedly committed the offences in 2019.

On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Richard Pirrie said Mr Yang was alleged to have committed the acts four years ago while he was giving the male complainant a bath.

Defence counsel for Mr Yang, Dermont Dann, said his client’s case was that “he is completely innocent” and had done nothing wrong whatsoever.

In the Crown’s opening, Mr Pirrie said Mr Yang is alleged to have given the complainant a bath and wiped down his genitalia.

Mr Pirrie alleges the accused pulled the complainant’s underwear down, wiped the tip of the victim’s penis and that the conduct was of a sexual nature.

The court was told Mr Yang was also alleged to have made a comment to the complainant saying “you are getting horny, how often do you have sex?”.

Mr Pirrie said Mr Yang then began to masturbate the complainant’s genitalia before orally raping the complainant.

Peng Yang outside Geelong Court.

It is alleged the third sexual assault took place a few moments later when Mr Yang put his hand underneath the complainant’s blanket and began masturbating the complainant’s genitalia.

Mr Dann said the first charge of sexual assault, which involved wiping the complainant’s genitalia, was not of a sexual nature, but rather Mr Yang was performing his duties as a nurse.

“In the defence case there is no masturbation whatsoever. It never occurred. There is no sucking of the genitalia, nothing like it ever occurred, there is no discussion about if the complainant was feeling horny or anything like that,” Mr Dann said.

The court heard when Mr Yang was interviewed by police about the masturbation allegation weeks after the alleged incident, he said “I didn’t, he was having a conversation with me, he’s alert and having a conversation with me”.

Mr Pirrie said when Mr Yang was confronted about the allegations of oral rape, he said: “That’s not right, he was having a conversation with me,”.

Mr Pirrie said Mr Yang denied any sexual actions with the alleged victim.

Mr Dann said it was the defence case that the alleged victim had zero credibility.

“There’s a large issue with respect to reliability. There’s a large issue with respect to the accuracy of these accounts, there is a large issue with respect to his consistency,” Mr Dann said.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Peng Yang trial: Nurse accused of raping St John of God patient, pleads not guilty