Heathmont musician Christopher Heskett charged with raping young woman during home massage
A budding Heathmont muso and amateur masseur has denied raping a young woman while giving her a massage at his home.
Outer East
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A Melbourne musician who wants to be next big solo acoustic star has denied he raped a young woman during a massage.
Christopher Heskett, 25, fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Heskett, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, allegedly raped and sexually assaulted the complainant in September 2018.
A witness told the court the complainant was “upset” and “crying” shortly after the alleged offending.
“It took a little bit for her to speak,” the witness said.
“I thought something happened it seemed pretty suss …”
The witness also said the complainant told him that Heskett had sexually assaulted her during a massage which occurred at a garage.
“She said ‘he put his fingers in me’,” the witness said.
The witness also said he encouraged the woman to report Heskett to the police.
A second witness told the court he met the woman at a skate park shortly after the alleged offending.
This witness said the complainant told him she had “got a massage from Chris”.
The court heard the complainant said she turned from her stomach to her back and Heskett “began to kiss her” then sexually assaulted her.
A third witness told the court the complainant had received previous massages from Heskett.
Police executed a search warrant and seized multiple devices, the court was told.
Knox SOCIT detective Senior Constable Amanda Hansen told the court police were looking for massage booking systems contained on Heskett’s devices to confirm the complainant’s attendance.
Magistrate Guillaume Bailin committed Heskett to stand trial at the County Court.
“The evidence is of sufficient weight to support a conviction,” he said.
Heskett rose from busker to prominent Melbourne musician who has played gigs throughout Melbourne including outer eastern suburb venues and some wineries.
According to his website, Heskett has “ambitions to become the next big solo acoustic act” who draws from “heavy influencers” including “Ed Sheeran, John Butler and John Mayer”.
Heskett claims his music has been streamed “55,000” times by “45,000 listeners from over 60 countries”.
Heskett will face court again at a later date.
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