NT Police: Patrick Carson’s allegedly raped teen during ‘emotional affair’

Prosecutors allege a NT police officer’s messages to a teenager were a 817 page ‘chronicle on how to groom’.

A TEENAGER was the “perfect prey” for a married senior police officer accused of raping her twice during their “emotional affair”, a court has heard.

During closing arguments in Supreme Court trial, Prosecutor Marty Aust claimed 39-year-old Patrick Phillip Carson created the “chronicle on how to groom and take advantage of someone” in the lead up to two alleged rapes.

The NT police officer pleaded not guilty to two counts of raping the then 19-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The court heard Carson and the young woman met through a shared interest in 2020, with their friendship evolving into an “emotional affair”.

It was alleged that while his wife and children were away from home on May 28, Carson and the 19-year-old were alone together.

Mr Aus said the teen massaged the older man’s legs up to his groin, but she was “frozen” when he let out a moan while massaging her, touching her vagina, and removing her clothes.

“She felt she couldn’t talk, she was scared,” Mr Aust said.

Following the alleged assault she texted her friend “I need help”.

“He stripped me down and fingered me in his backyard,” she allegedly told her friend.

The court heard that while she was dog sitting for a friend on July 8, the police officer visited the 19-year-old and allegedly started groping her and penetrated her with his fingers through her pants.

NT Police Officer Patrick Carson allegedly raped a teenage woman arriving at the NT Supreme Court with supporters. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Ms Aust alleged there was a “progression of inappropriate behaviour” in the lead up to the alleged incidents, including placing his hand on the inside of the teenager’s thighs while driving her around. .

Presenting 817 pages of the pair’s Facebook message history, Mr Aust alleged the man she saw as a “father figure” was grooming her.

“He’s taken a teenage girl described as shy, lacking in confidence, socially inadequate, immature, with few friends who has difficulty making good decisions in stressful situations,” Mr Aust said.

“You know she’s a bit silly, and given a lack of maturity and silly little dramas she is having … you can control that.

“You make yourself the most important person in her life.

“You make her believe you are her protector … you set up a secret chat to keep your ever increasingly concerned and worried wife at arms length.

“She’s the perfect prey for Mr Carson.

“And when he ultimately takes advantage of her, given the dynamic in the relationship she’s going to accept his apologies and agree to move forward and pretend nothing is wrong.”

The court heard that days after the alleged second assault the 19-year-old told a friend she was at the sexual assault referral centre.

She asked her not to tell her parents.

A statement from her father said he noticed changes in his daughter around the same time, with his outgoing and talkative child becoming “withdrawn”.

He described his daughter “crying uncontrollably” after a meeting with others about Carson’s behaviour.

When confronted by a mutual friend with screenshots of the messages, Carson admitted to texting the teenager but said “the messages were coming both ways”.

When asked if there had been any inappropriate touching, Carson told his friends: “No”.

His barrister, Mary Chalmers SC, said the 19-year-old had a track record of telling “tall tales” and had been an active participant in their sexually charged messages.

NT Police Officer Patrick Carson (2nd from L) allegedly raped a teenage woman seen arriving at the NT Supreme Court with supporters. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“You may have a query at the end of reading (their messages): Who was grooming who?”

“It’s actually a very straightforward case,” Ms Chalmers said.

“In order to make a (guilty) finding … you have to believe (the teenager) beyond reasonable doubt.

“And you cannot believe this woman.”

“She has all the hallmarks of the most unreliable witness.

“She is an exaggerator, and she takes pieces of information that are grounded in reality and twists them and presents them to the police.

“Nearly everything she said about (their relationship) turned out to be a lie or a gross mischaracterisation or a twisting of reality to fit a narrative — her narrative.”

The trial continues on Tuesday morning, where Ms Chalmers will continue her closing arguments before the jury leaves to deliberate.

Originally published as NT Police: Patrick Carson’s allegedly raped teen during ‘emotional affair’