Vaughan Rogers accused of ‘slipping’ into woman’s taxi at Towradgi Beach Hotel

A man has faced the first day of trial accused of zeroing in on a drunk woman at a pub, before allegedly sexually assaulting her on her apartment floor.

Vaughan Rogers outside Wollongong Court on November 16. Picture: Simon Bullard

A Fairy Meadow man accused of slipping into the back of an intoxicated woman’s taxi before allegedly raping her on the floor of her Tarrawanna home has faced the first day of trial.

Forty-one-year-old Vaughan Rogers formally pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault in front of a 12-person jury on Monday, following allegations he sexually assaulted a 56-year-old woman in the early hours of October 14, 2018.

On Monday, Crown prosecutor Daniel Noll told the jury Rogers’s DNA was found on the woman following the alleged assault, and that CCTV cameras had captured him “focusing” on the woman at a local pub before “lingering” around her taxi, and later leaving her apartment.

The court heard the complainant went to a gig at the Beaches Hotel in Thirroul on October 13 before she left with friends and headed to the Towardgi Beach Hotel, where they arrived just after 1.15am.

Rogers has denied the allegations. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Simon Bullard

The Crown alleges Rogers arrived alone at the pub sometime later, and didn’t appear intoxicated.

Mr Noll told the jury it was their case that Rogers ordered a beer, before sitting on the deck area near the intoxicated complainant and her friends, where he was allegedly “focused” on them.

It’s alleged that just nine minutes after he arrived, Rogers followed the complainant out the front as her friend tried to put her in a cab.

“It’s the Crown case he touched the complainant’s friend’s arm and she told him “p**s off, just go away,” Mr Noll told the court.

“The woman’s friend put her in a taxi, and when she left her she was the only person in the car, seated in the front seat.

“You will see in evidence Mr Rogers was still lingering”.

Once the friend left, it was alleged Rogers slipped into the back seat, with the woman only realising he was in the taxi midway through the trip.

The Crown told the jury they would hear from the taxi driver, who allegedly heard the woman say “you’re not coming with me”, before Rogers said “It’s alright, it’s alright”.

Mr Noll claimed the woman repeatedly told Rogers he wasn’t coming into her house during the trip to her home, and when they arrived, he got out of the vehicle saying he “wanted to walk”.

The trial began in the NSW District Court in Wollongong on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Simon Bullard

However, the woman claimed she walked to her doorway and turned around to see Rogers standing behind her.

The Crown alleges she hit him with her umbrella and told him to “f**k off”, before she ended up on the floor of her apartment with Rogers on top of her.

She allegedly screamed at him to “f**k off” again, before he tried to cover her mouth.

It is alleged Rogers then sexually assaulted her, only leaving some time later when the woman pretended she was asleep.

Mr Noll told the court CCTV showed a man, who they allege is Rogers, walking away from her home around 4am, before his Uber records allegedly revealed he ordered a lift nearby to drop him at his home.

At 4.43am that morning, it’s the Crown case the woman called her friend for help before texting her “Hey, I’ve been raped”.

She then called triple-0 before police attended and took her to hospital for examination. In the Crown’s opening address to the jury, it was alleged Rogers’s DNA was found on the woman’s body.

Rogers was arrested on October 16, 2018, after police release CCTV images of Rogers at Towradgi Beach Hotel to the public, requesting assistance in identifying the man.

The trial continues.