Ashley Dix found not guilty of rape

A jury has acquitted a Winchelsea man of raping a woman he met on Tinder, after his lawyer argued the sex was consensual.

Ashley Dix leaves Geelong Court this week.

A Winchelsea man has been found not guilty of raping a sleeping woman he met on Tinder.

Ashley Dix, 28, appeared in the County Court of Victoria this week for a trial before Judge Gerard Mullaly.

He had been charged with three counts of rape and accused of penetrating a woman with his tongue, fingers and penis without her consent.

The charges all stemmed from an alleged incident on October 27, 2021, in which the woman alleged she woke up to Mr Dix performing oral sex on her, before later inserting his penis inside her vagina.

Mr Dix’s defence lawyer, barrister James McQuillan, told the jury the sex was consensual in his opening address on Monday and raised questions of the complainant’s reliability.

To prove a rape charge, the jury was told at the outset the prosecution needed to prove several elements and make judgements on the state of mind of both the complainant and accused during the incident.

Prior to October 27, 2021, Mr Dix and the woman had met on Tinder in 2020, before developing a friendship in 2021, the jury was told.

Mr Dix stayed over at the complainant’s house on multiple occasions before the alleged incident, but the jury was told the woman informed Mr Dix she did not want to have any sexual contact.

The complainant reported the incident to police two days later, sparking an investigation.

The jury heard the prosecution and defence closing addresses on Wednesday before being sent out to deliberate on Thursday after being given direction by Judge Mullaly.

That afternoon, the jury delivered their verdict finding Mr Dix not guilty on all counts.

Originally published as Ashley Dix found not guilty of rape