Court prohibits naming of high profile rape accused
Well-known Australian man facing rape charges over alleged offence in Toowoomba has been granted an interim suppression order protecting his identity.
A well-known Australian facing rape charges over an alleged offence in Toowoomba has been granted an interim suppression order protecting his identity.
The high-profile man was charged in January with two counts of rape, after being accused of the offence in 2021, but has not yet been committed for trial.
The man could not previously be named because, under a soon-to-be abolished Queensland law, defendants charged with sexual assault or rape cannot be identified until committed for trial.
New legislation taking effect from Tuesday would have allowed the media to reveal his identity, but on Friday his lawyers obtained an interim order in the Supreme Court of Queensland prohibiting any “identifying matter” in relation to the man.
The Australian has previously reported that the man was charged after his alleged victim googled a high-profile national scandal in which he was involved.
She told police that when she saw a photo of the man, she realised he was the same man she alleges had unprotected sex with her after they met in a Toowoomba nightclub in October 2021.
The woman says that just over six weeks later, in November 2021, she was at home speaking with her flatmate’s mother when the conversation turned to the scandal.
The woman then did an internet search of the scandal on her phone and saw a face come up that she recognised as the man she had met at the Toowoomba nightclub.
The following day she reported the matter to police and later provided a formal witness statement.
The man allegedly had consensual sex with the woman that night but failed to wear a condom when they had sex twice the next morning. Failing to wear a condom without a partner’s permission is considered sexual assault under Queensland law.
Last year, the Queensland government announced the state’s rape laws would be changed after the second Hear Her Voice report – highlighting the experiences of women and girls across the criminal justice system – recommended naming people charged with sexual offences, bringing Queensland into line with other states.
On Friday, Justice Peter Applegarth said the man intended to apply for a suppression order under the new legislation “as soon as practicable” but noted it might take “some time” for this to be heard and determined.
“Given the publicity that the committal proceeding has attracted, there is a substantial risk that unless a temporary order is made, media reports identifying the applicant as the defendant in the committal proceeding will be published as early as Tuesday, 3 October, 2023.”
That would be “contrary to the interests of justice in permitting an application … to be heard and determined on its merits”, Justice Applegarth ruled.
Queensland Police did not oppose the interim injunction.
The woman told police she met up with friends at the Powerhouse nightclub in Toowoomba’s CBD in October 2021 and consumed alcohol before moving on to another club with two friends, where she consumed more alcohol.
At some point in the evening, she met the man and talked to him before they left in a taxi to go to a house where he was staying with a friend.
The woman and the man got into bed clothed. After a brief conversation, she said, she recalled that they kissed and she told him to put a condom on.
She then claimed that she woke to find her legs open and his penis inside her.
She said the next thing she remembered was waking up the next morning with the man having sex with her. She said she told him to stop. The woman claimed she felt groggy when he had sex with her a third time.
After establishing that he ejaculated inside her, the woman said she told him she needed to get the morning-after pill.
The pair then drove to a nearby pharmacy to get the morning-after pill, and she asked him to drive her home.
On the way they stopped to pick up coffee from a McDonald’s drive-thru before he dropped her at her own home.
Over the course of the following week, the pair engaged in conversation over social media platform Snapchat but soon lost contact.
The Weekend Australian understands the man intends to plead not guilty to the charges.
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