Trial begins for man accused of raping, sexually abusing step-granddaughter

A man is fighting allegations he raped his step-granddaughter on multiple occasions, as a prosecutor told a jury his alleged victim reached for her doll for comfort after one alleged incident.

A man is standing trial in Geelong accused of sexually abusing his step-granddaughter between 2001 and 2005. Picture: File

A girl was playing with a doll before she was allegedly raped by her step-grandfather, a jury has heard.

The man, aged in his 70s, who can’t be named to protect the identity of his alleged victim, is facing trial in the County Court at Geelong on Friday charged with five alleged offences – three counts of sexually penetrating a child under the age of 16 and two counts of indecent act with a child under the age of 16.

The court heard the complainant was, at the time of the alleged incidents, the man’s step-granddaughter, through his marriage to her grandmother.

The alleged abuse occurred between 2001 and 2005 when the complainant was between 8 and 11 years old and the man was in his 50s, and allegedly involved vaginal, oral and digital penetration.

A jury was empanelled on Friday morning, before the jury heard the opening addresses of both the prosecution and defence.

Crown prosecutor Raphael de Vietri Mr de Vietri told the jury of three alleged incidents the man is charged over, when the accused man raped the complainant.

In one instance the complainant was playing with her doll when the man appeared in the doorway, leaned into the doorframe and “asked her a question along the lines of whether she knew where babies come from”, Mr de Vietri said.

The man then allegedly raped the complainant, the court heard.

Afterwards, “she remembers just wanting her mum”, Mr de Vietri said, and the next day she noticed blood in her underwear.

In another, the complainant when the accused man allegedly watched the complainant shower before making the complainant perform oral sex on him.

He allegedly told her beforehand he “wanted to show her something” that was going to make “everyone love her when she was older,” Mr de Vietri told the jury.

The third incident occurred days later, and involved the man allegedly digitally penetrating the complainant as she lay on a sleeping mattress on the floor of a lounge room.

Mr de Vietri also detailed a further incident, which is not the subject of any charges, when the complainant allegedly told the accused man to stop, after which the abuse ceased.

The complainant reached out to family members and the police, in 2021, as she “couldn’t keep it to herself anymore”, Mr de Vietri said.

In her own address, the man’s lawyer began by noting that it was not yet the time for her to argue about the evidence, before any was presented.

She told the jury it came down to the complainant’s evidence.

“In this case, the thing that matters the most, is whether or not you accept (the complainant’s) account as honest and as reliable beyond a reasonable doubt,” the man’s lawyer said.

She told the jury they will hear the man categorically deny the allegations when put to him in a police interview, and asked the jury to keep an open mind and apply their “common sense”.

The trial, before Judge Geoffrey Chettle, continues.

Originally published as Trial begins for man accused of raping, sexually abusing step-granddaughter