Adam Ebeling found not guilty of alleged Marcus Oldham College rape

A jury has returned a not guilty verdict in the trial of a man accused of raping a fellow student in a Geelong dorm room.

Adam Ebeling arriving at Geelong Law Courts this week.

A jury has acquitted a man accused of raping a fellow student in a Geelong dorm room.

Adam Ebeling, 25, faced trial in the County Court at Geelong on a single count of rape.

The charge stemmed from the an incident at Marcus Oldham College in Waurn Ponds in March 2021, where he and the complainant were both students.

After a night out drinking, the complainant alleged she was raped by Mr Ebeling in her dorm room.

Mr Ebeling denied the accusation and said the sex was consensual.

The trial, before Judge Gerard Mullaly, commenced on Monday and the jury heard both the prosecution and defence’s closing arguments on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Ebeling’s lawyer, barrister Paul Smallwood, told the jury the prosecution’s case had inconsistencies and lacked evidence.

The jury of six men and six women were sent out to deliberate just after midday on Friday.
They returned a not guilty verdict at 3pm, acquitting Mr Ebeling of the charge.

EARLIER: Dorm-room rape trial hears claims of ‘alarm bells’, ‘complete rubbish’

A jury has heard the closing arguments in the trial of a man accused of raping a fellow student in a Geelong dorm room.

Adam Ebeling, 25, is on trial in the County Court at Geelong on a single count of rape.

Mr Ebeling contends the sex was consensual and has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which stems from an incident at Marcus Oldham College in Waurn Ponds in March, 2021.

Mr Ebeling and the complainant were both students at the school, and the alleged rape took place in the complainant’s dorm room after a night out drinking.

In her closing address, prosecutor Fiona Martin said Mr Ebeling’s own account of events was “nothing but a convenient narrative … made up with the benefit of hindsight”.

The court heard that Mr Ebeling thought the complainant was “playing hard to get” when she initially said she didn’t want to have sex.

“The idea that she was cheeky and flirty when she told him they were not having sex … is complete rubbish,” Ms Martin said.

Ms Martin dismissed suggestions that the fact the complainant had social contact with the accused following the alleged rape contradicted what happened.

“I invite you to think back to when you have had any kind of contact with someone who has wronged you,” Ms Martin told the jury.

Ms Martin pointed to messages exchanged between Mr Ebeling and two of his friends.

In one message from November 2021, Mr Ebeling said he had “f---ed up big time”, the court heard.

“That’s not a message you send to your close friend when you’re discussing a consensual encounter,” Ms Martin said.

Ms Martin conceded there were “differences” in witness testimony around accounts the complainant had given to friends in the months afterwards.

In his closing address, Mr Ebeling’s lawyer, barrister Paul Smallwood, told the jury the contradictions meant the complainant’s evidence “cannot possibly be accepted”.

“Alarm bells should be ringing,” Mr Smallwood said.

Mr Smallwood said it was “highly improbable” that his client would rape a fellow student who “he’s going to see hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month”.

He asked why Mr Ebeling would bring condoms to the room but then ejaculate inside the complainant, as alleged by the prosecution.

Mr Smallwood told the jury there was an absence of direct evidence to corroborate the complainant’s allegation, including semen or bank records showing she purchased the morning-after pill from a pharmacy the next day, as she testified she did.

The evidence, Mr Smallwood argued, including testimony from witnesses, was more consistent with Mr Ebeling’s own account of events, and the messages the prosecution highlighted were not admissions of rape.

“The evidence clearly, clearly, clearly supports the reasonable possibility of doubt,” Mr Smallwood said.

The trial, before Judge Gerard Mullaly, continues.

Originally published as Adam Ebeling found not guilty of alleged Marcus Oldham College rape