Man charged over alleged New Year’s Eve sex attack at Love Machine
A man has been charged after allegedly attempting to rape a woman at a New Year’s Eve party in Prahran’s Love Machine nightclub.
Police & Courts
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A young man has been charged over an alleged attempted rape of a woman in a nightclub toilet on New Years’ Day 2020.
Brandon Arfaoui, 22, faced court on Wednesday accused of attempting to force the young woman to perform sex acts on him after allegedly locking her in a unisex cubicle at Love Machine in Prahran during a New Years’ Eve event last year.
Police allege Mr Arfaoui, of Carnegie, struck up a conversation with the 24-year-old woman in the smokers’ area of the popular club shortly after midnight on January 1.
The court heard Mr Arfaoui asked the woman if she wanted to do drugs with him, to which she agreed, and the pair made their way to the unisex bathroom inside the club.
Once in the cubicle, Mr Arfaoui locked the door and told the alleged victim she would “pay for the drugs he had by sucking his penis” and pulled down his jeans.
“The complainant immediately froze and didn’t know what to do,” Detective Senior Constable Michael Fawcett told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
“She had not agreed in any way to have sex with the accused,” he said.
Police allege the woman repeatedly said “no” while Mr Arfaoui forcibly kissed her and attempted to rape her.
Mr Arfaoui then allegedly performed a lewd act in front of the woman before passing her a pill and leaving the cubicle.
The court heard the woman immediately flushed the pill down the toilet and rushed to find her friends on the dance floor before reporting the alleged assault to police officers outside the club.
Police allege Mr Arfaoui was identified on club CCTV from the night.
The court heard during a police interview about the incident on Tuesday, Mr Arfaoui was shown a photo of the alleged victim which he said he did not recognise, before remarking the woman was “ugly”.
Detective Fawcett opposed bail, alleging Mr Arfaoui targeted a vulnerable victim and if released posed an unacceptable risk to the public — especially women.
“(The alleged victim) would sleep more easily at night if he were remanded in custody,” Detective Fawcett said.
The court heard Mr Arfaoui was on bail for five separate incidents at the time of the alleged attempted rape.
It also emerged during the bail hearing police were investigating a seperate alleged rape in the Love Machine club — in the same toilet cubicle — by two unknown men about 10 minutes after the alleged assault by Mr Arfaoui.
Police confirmed Mr Arfaoui was not involved in the second incident and the investigation remains ongoing.
The bail application will continue on Thursday.
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