Brittany Higgins accused Bruce Lehrmann denies sexual assault
The lawyer for ex-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, who will be charged with the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins, says the 26-year-old will defend the allegation.
Police & Courts
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Queensland man Bruce Lehrmann can be named as the former Liberal staffer who will be charged with the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins.
Lawyers for Mr Lehrmann have said the 26-year-old will defend the allegation and denies sexual intercourse with Ms Higgins occurred when the pair entered parliament at night in March 2019.
Police will allege the 26-year-old Queensland man had sexual intercourse without consent with a woman at Parliament House in Canberra on March 23, 2019.
ACT Policing said officers served the man’s legal representative on Friday with a summons to appear before the ACT Magistrates Court on September 16.
The maximum penalty for the offence is 12 years imprisonment.
In a statement, Mr Lehrmann’s lawyer John Korn told news.com.au he would reject the allegation there was sexual intercourse.
“My client absolutely and unequivocally denies that any form of sexual activity took place at all,’’ Mr Korn said. “He will defend the charge.”
Detectives from ACT Policing specialist team dedicated to investigating sexual assaults first received a report about the alleged assault in April 2019.
ACT Policing said the investigation had “remained open” since then and in February 2021 a “formal complaint was made”.
“Detectives have since spoken to a number of witnesses and collected evidence as part of the investigation,” police said in a statement.
In February Ms Higgins went public with her allegations concerning the incident and the Morrison Government’s subsequent handling of the matter.
Ms Higgins has claimed people in the Coalition who were aware of her allegations in 2019 gave priority to the political interests of the Liberal Party over supporting her.
Ms Higgins’ public allegations sparked three reviews into how women and political staff are treated, including an independent inquiry into the culture of parliament.
Last month Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed the government would accept all recommendations from a review into the processes and procedures relating to “serious incidents in the parliamentary workplace” by Stephanie Forster.
“An independent complaints mechanism for serious incidents in the Parliamentary workplace will be established,” he said.
Mr Morrison said the mechanism would be operating by mid-September.
“In addition, we have been piloting a face-to-face training program for parliamentarians and their staff,” he said.
“This training will be rolled-out widely from September of this year.”
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins is also conducting an review of parliament, but is not designed to make findings about specific allegations of bullying, sexual harassment or sexual assault.
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