Former Socceroo Ruon Tongyik defends rape allegations

A former Socceroo and his friend are accused of bragging on social media after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman.

A former Socceroo and his friend are accused of bragging on social media after allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in a western Sydney home.

Ruon Tongyik, 28, appeared in the Downing Centre District Court on Wednesday with his co-accused, Mardochee Manirakiza, a friend from school.

Both men have been charged with two counts each of sexual intercourse without consent.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Police allege Mr Tongyik and Mr Manirakiza sexually assaulted a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, by knowingly having non-consensual intercourse with her at Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west in November 2018.

A jury was told in the trial before Justice Lara Gallagher on Wednesday how the woman had disclosed details of the alleged assault to a friend over a social media message.

Former A-League player and one-time Socceroo Ruon Tongyik is standing trial over allegations he and another man raped a woman in Mount Druitt in 2018. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

“I have proof of them bragging about it,” the message to the friend read.

The friend told the court the woman had sent him a screenshot of an Instagram post in which she alleged the two men were “bragging” about the alleged assault.

The next day, the friend forwarded the woman a screenshot on social media in which Mr Tongyik’s A-League club, the Western Sydney Wanderers, announced his release from his contract due to injury.

The court was told she replied in a message: “Wasn’t injured enough to rape me.”

The woman’s elder sister also took the stand on Wednesday and got emotional as she gave evidence.

She told the court her sister had “sobbed” while telling her details of the alleged assault that involved Mr Tongyik and “another gentleman”.

She said her sister also told her that she had suffered bruises to her wrists in the incident, and she had taken photos of them at the time.

“She told me that she had been drinking that day,” the woman’s sister told the court.

“It was distressing … she was upset … she was crying, it was sobs, it took a long time for the conversation to happen because of the crying.

“She told me that she was held down at one point.”

The woman’s sister told the court their relationship at the time of the alleged incident was “close”

“I had been living apart from her while I was at university, but we spoke often,” she said.

THE ALLEGATIONS

Crown prosecutor Emma Curran previously told the court that Mr Tongyik and the woman began talking over social media in 2017.

A year later, in November 2018, Mr Tongyik told the woman that he had signed with the Wanderers and asked if she wanted to meet at his Mt Druitt unit, the court was told.

The Crown alleges the woman attended and had drinks with Mr Tongyik before having consensual sex.

Mr Tongyik’s friend and co-accused Mr Manirakiza then came over that same night and the three started taking multiple shots and playing truth of dare, Ms Curran told the court.

After multiple shots, the woman says she blacked out and when she came to she was lying naked on a bed and the two men were sexually assaulting her, the Crown alleges.

After the alleged incident, the woman said she went into the lounge room and reached out to a friend to pick her up.

He claims the sex was consenual. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Later that evening, the Crown alleges, Mr Tongyik posted an image of himself and his co- accused to his private Instagram account – of which the woman took a screenshot of – with the caption “tag team”.

The pair then stopped talking and the woman removed Mr Tongyik from all social media accounts, the court was told.

In June 2020, Mr Tongyik was selected for the Australian Olympic team to compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

The court was told the woman became aware of his selection after watching news reports and took to Twitter to share a post that read: “Love finding out my rapist is representing Australia, even when he laughed about the incident at the time.”

Following the social media posts, the woman was asked by Mr Tongyik’s legal counsel to cease posting.

Shortly after, in October 2021, the woman reported the matter to police and made a formal statement.

Mr Tongyik was charged in August 2023 and his co-accused Mr Manirakiza was charged in March 2024.

Mr Tongyik declined an interview with police; however, Mr Manirakiza participated and told police the sex was consensual and it was the woman who suggested they played truth or dare because she said they were “boring and watching TV – football”.

He also told police that the Instagram post referring to the “tag team” was a soccer reference given the two men had played together, and it had nothing to do with the incident.

Defence barrister Georgia Huxley argued in her opening submissions that the woman was a willing participant, and while it was not disputed that the two men and the women were at the unit, they would dispute the Crown’s allegations of what took place inside.

“What is in dispute is what occurred inside the unit while she was there,” she told the court.

Ms Huxley also reminded the court that Mr Manirakiza did “his very best” to recount “each and every detail” of the night of the alleged offence, some six years after it took place.

In her submissions, Ms Huxley said they disputed the woman’s allegation that the trio were concurrently involved in having sex with the woman at any point in time.

Justice Gallagher also reminded the jury that they must be convinced of the Crown’s case to find the accused guilty.

The Western Sydney Wanderers previously said Mr Tongyik had been stood down from the club on a no-fault interim suspension in light of the court proceedings.

He signed with the club back in 2018 however left due to injury before re-signing in 2022.

He also made two appearances with the Socceroos in 2021 during their bid for World Cup qualification.

Mr Ruon is not contracted to any club.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Former Socceroo Ruon Tongyik defends rape allegations