Daniel Rawlings sues Royal Caribbean after being accused of rape
A northern beaches man is attempting to sue a cruise liner after he was confined to his cabin following an accusation of rape. No charges were ever brought and the man told the court the threesome participants appeared to “enjoy” themselves.
Manly
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An air conditioner technician who was detained on a cruise ship after being accused of rape is attempting to sue Royal Caribbean over his treatment.
Daniel Rawlings, formerly of Fairlight, was detained in his cabin for six days following a threesome with two teenage girls on the Explorer of the Seas cruise from Sydney to Vanuatu back in 2016.
The now 32-year-old has never been charged with any offence and is now pursuing the cruise line for $400,000 in damages after he was confined to a cabin under guard for six days until the ship docked back in Sydney.
Mr Rawlings was working for Manly’s Frost Air Conditioning when he took the 10 day Schoolies Week cruise on November 10, 2016 together with his friend Matthew Champion.
After having drunken sex with one of the young women on the third night of the cruise, Mr Rawlings last month told Sydney District Court the following night they were joined by a second female who had agreed to a “threesome”.
Under cross examination by defence lawyer James Sheller, Mr Rawlings said midway through the encounter in his guestroom the second woman vomited and had to be assisted to take a shower before recommencing sexual intercourse.
He told the court he believed she was having fun during the encounter.
“Not while she was vomiting (but) she certainly enjoyed herself for all the other parts of the night,” Mr Rawlings said.
However shortly after both women had left, a number of security guards turned up at Mr Rawlings’ room.
The plaintiff’s lawyer David Stanton described how at one point during his client’s confinement the mother of the second girl discovered where he was being kept.
“I heard a distressed woman yelling, speaking loudly to the guard,” Mr Rawlings said.
“She was telling the guard that she’d found the person that, um, that raped her daughter and that she was very angry that I wasn’t locked in a cell as she’d been told I was in a cell.”
Mr Sheller also touched on the incident, questioning Mr Rawlings assertion that he at first had no idea why he had been detained.
“So at that point you knew who the victim of any alleged sexual assault was,” Mr Sheller said.
“The victim? I’m the victim,” Mr Rawlings said.
“The information I was told was that the girl who left my room had no memory so I thought they were taking precautions just in case,” Mr Rawlings said.
Although police spoke to him on his arrival and conducted some inquiries in Australia, after a period of four months Mr Rawlings was told nothing more would be pursued.
Mr Rawlings described how for the first two days he was kept in a room wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
“I’d wash them in the sink and hang them out to dry,” Mr Rawlings said.
“After two days they went and purchased some generic items from the gift store – shirt, shorts and underpants.
“The security guard came in every 30 minutes or when he felt he had to come in.
“I was distressed. I woke in a panic many times even when the security guard wasn’t looking over me sleeping, I had dreams he was.”
Mr Sheller extensively questioned Mr Rawlings on his alcohol and drug use at the time of the cruise.
The court was told he consumed up to 3 to 4g of cocaine and 30 drinks a week and sometimes took valium to offset the insomnia caused by his cocaine use.
However, the court was reassured Mr Rawlings was now sober owing to a “spiritual awakening” which occurred on the New Year’s Eve following the cruise.
“On that evening had a deep sense of connection to myself, the earth, to people around me and to the girl I’d spent the night with,” Mr Rawlings said.
“We were able to think and talk, I’d described it as telepathy, my eyes seemed to be open in a new way.”
The matter was adjourned until next month.