Andrew Dadley: Fire chief rape trial hears of DNA match
The rape trial of a fire chief has heard that swabs taken from the alleged victim revealed a male profile matching 27 out of 27 markers also found in a sample given by the accused.
Central Sydney
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Male DNA matching the profile of a top fire official accused of raping a female firefighter was found in swabs taken from her vagina and underwear, a court has heard.
However, one expert witness told Andrew Thomas Dadley’s District Court trial on Monday she could not rule out if the woman accidentally transferred the genetic material there herself.
Dadley, a Superintendent with Fire and Rescue NSW, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape and one of indecent assault amid allegations of a sexual assault following a Christmas party in 2016.
The woman claims she woke in a dreamlike state in the early hours of December 9 to find the 44-year-old “having sex with me” before he carried her to another bedroom and started intercourse again.
Dadley, from Wahroonga, had been invited to “crash” in a spare room at the woman’s unit along with another friend who slept on the lounge.
He does not dispute being there but claims no sexual incident took place.
On Monday forensic biologist Virginia Freedman said tests isolating male DNA were conducted on samples provided from the woman’s sexual assault kit collected at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital on December 9, 2016.
A test of the low-vaginal swab revealed a male profile matching 27 out of 27 markers also found in a sample given by Dadley, Ms Freedman said.
She said research had suggested three or more markers were usually only found in women “who had participated in some form of sexual activity”.
That profile was likely to match every male in Dadley’s paternal line and occur in about one in 740 unrelated males according to a database of more than 2200 profiles, she said.
A swab taken from the woman’s high-vaginal area also returned a partial male profile that matched 20 of 27 markers in Dadley’s profile, the court heard.
Defence lawyer Matthew Johnston asked Ms Freedman if the fact that three male profiles, including one that matched Dadley’s, were found in the tests on the hip area of the woman’s underwear could be evidence of “contamination”.
“It’s possible she has some male DNA on her hands and she’s transferred it there herself,” she said.
“I would agree (that) I can’t say whether that DNA is more likely to be there (on the underwear) from either primary or secondary transfer.”
Another expert witness Dr Bronwyn Gock, however, said earlier it was “highly unlikely” that the male DNA could have been transferred to the high-vaginal area through secondary contact.
The trial continues.