Palmerston man accused of raping 15-year-old foster girl four times

A teen girl’s odd behaviour when asked to sign a Father’s Day card for a man who allegedly raped her multiple times will form part of the evidence at his Supreme Court trial.

Generic imagery of Darwin's Supreme Court. Picture: Che Chorley

A Palmerston man is standing trial charged with four counts of raping a 15-year-old girl being fostered in his home.

The 40-year-old pleaded not guilty to allegations which included him digitally penetrating the girl during a family movie night, and when she fell asleep after getting some back scratches from her foster mum.

In an opening address at the Supreme Court on Monday, Crown prosecutor Damien Jones told the jury they would hear testimony related to four specific instances of alleged rape, but the teen alleged she had been sexually abused about 10 times between May and September 2021.

The court heard the alleged victim moved into the 40-year-old’s home after being put into the care of his partner.

“Like all families they have their trials and tribulations, but for the most part life is good,” Mr Jones said.

But the court heard that changed a few weeks after the man returned from a trip, when he allegedly snuck into the girl’s bedroom for the first time, touching her and raping her with his finger.

“She was scared, she froze, she didn’t move,” Mr Jones said.

“She will tell you that she pinched herself … clasping her nails inside her hand to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming.”

The 15-year-old girl was living in foster care in the man’s Palmerston home when the alleged offending occurred. Picture: Floss Adams.

In another alleged incident, the girl, the man, his partner and his teenage son who also lived at the home were watching a Marvel show together.

When his partner and son went to bed, the man allegedly moved to lay behind the girl and raped her until he fell asleep.

“She will tell you that the accused positioned himself behind her, she could feel and hear him breathing as he is the heaviest breather in the house,” Mr Jones said.

At another time, the girl went into her foster mum’s bedroom for a back scratch, cocooned in a fluffy pink blanket.

“She will also tell you, however, at one point the accused would find his way inside her pink fluffy blanket. No matter what she tried, he would still get access to her,” Mr Jones alleged.

On Father’s Day that year the foster mum had brought a card for the girl to sign, Mr Jones said, where she wrote a cursory message and “flicked it over to him”.

“Her conduct did not go unnoticed by (her foster mum), nor did it go unnoticed by the accused, who confiscates her mobile phone as a punishment for her behaviour,” he said.

Two days after Father’s Day, the girl went to her foster mum’s office and began to disclose the alleged offending.

“She sees (the girl) shut down, tears start to roll down her cheeks,” Mr Jones said.

“(The foster mum) will give evidence that at that point, the girl told her that the accused was coming into her room and touching her vagina.”

The 40-year-old sat in the dock with his head bowed, sniffling as the prosecutor’s case was laid out.

The jury is expected to hear from the teen, some of her school friends, the foster mum, police, and a taped call with the alleged offender as the trial continues this week.