Elite rider Callum Buczak denies getting girlfriend to help him stalk rape accuser
An elite equestrian rider is accused of stalking a woman after she claimed he raped her, allegedly getting his girlfriend to track her movements online.
A woman who accused a would-be Olympic equestrian rider of stalking her after she accused him of rape had a “vendetta” against him, a court has been told.
Elite rider Callum Buczak, 29, and his girlfriend Alexandra McDonough, 30, are charged with stalking and harassing the woman following the alleged rape.
It is alleged Mr Buczak stalked the woman between February 28 and December 6 last year and “encouraged” his girlfriend to trace her online activity.
The pair faced a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.
The equestrian’s lawyer Damian Sheales told the court the woman had a “vendetta” against his client after he “blocked her”.
“We say it’s a vendetta – it’s just vengeance,” Mr Sheales told the court.
The charges of harassment and stalking were a “calculated” part of her “taking revenge,” the barrister told the court.
He said the alleged victim was trying to “manipulate” the conduct of the police and other bodies including the media.
The court heard the woman’s father rang Equestrian Australia after his daughter was told not to attend an event Mr Buczak was competing at because he would be “uncomfortable”.
“I was led to believe he would feel uncomfortable if my daughter was there,” the dad told the court.
The father was on Monday quizzed about the “motive” behind this call and whether he threatened to tell the media the sporting body they was “siding with a rapist”.
“The whole point of this was to damage (Mr Buczak) and any chance he had of getting on the Australian team,” Mr Sheales said.
But the father denied the claim.
A trial for Mr Buczak over the alleged rape has been set down and he has denied all the allegations against him. He has pleaded not guilty.
The rider’s 30-year-old partner Alexandra McDonough is accused of stalking her boyfriend’s accuser using Instagram to trace online activity and sending it on to Mr Buczak, court documents state.
The committal will resume on Tuesday.