Rape charge for high-profile man ‘recognised via Google’

A well-known Australian man has been charged with rape after his alleged victim googled a national scandal he was involved in.

The high-profile man has been charged with rape over an alleged sexual incident involving a woman who had earlier been out with friends at a popular Toowoomba venue.

A well-known Australian has been charged with rape after his alleged victim googled a high-profile national scandal in which he was involved.

The alleged victim 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 just over six weeks later, in November 2021, she was at her 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 Toowoomba 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. The man was earlier this month charged with rape over the ­alleged incident in October 2021.

He cannot be named because, under a soon-to-be abolished Queensland law, defendants charged with sexual assault or rape cannot be identified until they are committed for trial.

The Powerhouse nightclub in Toowoomba’s CBD where the woman began her evening with friends.

The woman said she met up with friends at the Powerhouse nightclub in Toowoomba’s CBD in October 2021, where she ­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 the 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 back at her own home.

Over the course of the following week, the pair engaged in conversation over the social media platform SnapChat but soon lost contact.

The Australian understands that police will allege they have CCTV footage from the club showing the pair socialising and leaving together, as well as confirmation of the taxi booking in his name and receipts for the McDonald’s coffee purchase.

Police served a notice on the man’s lawyers requiring his appearance at Toowoomba Magistrates Court in January.

The man did not appear in person as he was living outside the state.

He was granted bail, with conditions including that he not contact the complainant and that he surrender his passport, which was not opposed by police.

Magistrate Kay Ryan ordered a brief of evidence be delivered by February 15 and the matter was adjourned until February 22.

Last year, the Queensland government announced that the state’s rape laws would be changed after the second Hear Her Voice report – which highlighted 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.