Navy man Benjamin Seaman denies indecent acts
A female sailor has begun to give evidence about a Navy officer who allegedly picked her up and kissed her twice at a house-warming party before allegedly groping her breasts in bed.
Canberra Star
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A sailor has described feeling “frazzled” after a navy chief allegedly picked her up and kissed her twice while she was doing the dishes.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges Chief Petty Officer Benjamin Seaman subjected her to a series of indecent acts during her house-warming party in November, 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The complaint gave evidence to the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra via videolink, however her testimony was plagued by technical difficulties, ultimately resulting in the matter being stood down early.
The woman, who holds the rank of Able Seaman, told the court she and her housemate, another Navy member, invited about 40 people who were mainly from work, to their house party on November 23, 2019.
She said while he was invited to the party she didn’t know CPO Seaman very well, and told the court he was in her housemate’s chain of command but not hers.
The complainant said CPO Seaman arrived at the house in the afternoon after working on his boat, and she said he changed into new clothes at the house without incident.
Towards the end of the party the woman said she began to put away food and stack the dishwasher when CPO Seaman allegedly approached her from behind, picked her up, spun her and kissed her on her lips.
The complainant said she pushed him off, and then attempted to continue stacking the dishes.
However she told the court CPO Seaman picked her up, swung her, and kissed her again.
“I pushed him and said no,” she said.
The woman said after this second alleged incident she stood at the sink and then noticed another woman at the party had witnessed what happened.
The complainant said she told the woman “Benny just kissed me”, and said at the time she felt “a bit out of sorts” and “frazzled” by what had happened.
The complainant said the woman told her it was OK, but the complainant explained to her the kiss was not consensual.
Following this, she and the woman want outside and spoke for 20-30 minutes about topics unrelated to the incident.
At this point of her testimony, the videolink cut out and Defence Force Magistrate Group Captain Scott Geeves stood down the matter until Tuesday.
CPO Seaman is facing four charges of an act of indecency without consent relating to alleged incidents against the complainant during the party.
When the trial began CPO Seaman initially pleaded not guilty to three charges.
However CPO Seaman’s lawyer told the court the details of the third charge were “duplicitous” as it mentioned two alleged actions rather than a single alleged act.
Prosecutors told the court they sought to instead charge CPO Seaman with four counts of an act of indecency without consent
Following a lengthy adjournment CPO Seaman was re-arraigned where he pleaded not guilty to all revised charges.
The trial continues.
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