‘Honest person’: Ex Socceroo Ruon Tongyik stands trial on rape allegations

The former footballer’s girlfriend has taken the stand to give evidence in his rape trial, saying she didn’t believe he was capable of such a crime.

A former Socceroo who is standing trial over rape allegations has been described as a “down to earth” and “happy” man by his girlfriend.

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

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, knowingly having non-consensual intercourse with her at Mount Druitt in Sydney’s west in November 2018.

In court on Monday, Mr Tongyik’s pregnant girlfriend Brooke Luff, took the stand, telling a jury she had met the former footballer on a night out in Newtown in February 2021.

“My first impression of him was that he was very down to earth … easy to talk and had a happy demeanour,” she said.

Brooke Luff told the court that she believed her boyfriend, former Socceroo Ruon Tongyik, was an ‘honest person’. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

The pair began talking over social media and eventually struck up a relationship, the court was told, before Mr Tongyik travelled to Dubai for a training camp with the Socceroos in May 2021.

While Mr Tongyik was in Dubai, the alleged victim made a tweet referring to her rape allegations.

“When the alleged victim made the tweet, he spoke to me about the allegation on the phone,” Ms Luff told the court.

“I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise, I wasn’t part of the football scene or using Twitter at the time.

“I was quite surprised to hear about the allegation, and I wanted to ask him directly whether he had sexually assaulted her.

“I asked him directly, he told me he never sexually assaulted her.”

In the alleged version of events that Mr Tongyik relayed to Ms Luff, he said the woman had come over to his house on the night in question and had given him oral sex before having consensual sex in another room with Mr Manirakiza.

“So, after I learnt about the allegation, I believed he was telling me the truth,” she told the court.

“I also had to ask myself if he was capable of that, and I do not believe he is, so it didn’t change my decision to continue my relationship with him.”

Ms Luff told the court that she “trusts” Mr Tongyik and believed that he was an “honest person” who gave back to the community.

“I know that he will be a fantastic father, he’s been so supportive of me throughout this pregnancy and has been very compassionate with my own experiences and learning as much as he can,” she said.

The court was also told how Mr Tongyik’s brother had died by what is believed to have been suicide back in March 2022.

“His family were devastated … it was an extremely difficult time, he looked after them and supported them,” she said.

“It was the most difficult thing a person can go through.”

Mr Tongyik continues to defend the rape allegations. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Following the allegations against Mr Tongyik, which were publicised by the woman on social media some three years after the alleged incident, Football Australia launched a confidential investigation.

A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers stood Mr Tongyik down on a no-fault interim suspension in light of the court proceedings.

Since then, Ms Luff told the court that Mr Tongyik had not played football but rather had been working “long hours” for a furniture company.

In the trial, before Justice Lara Gallagher, Crown prosecutor Emma Curran previously told the court that Mr Tongyik and the alleged victim 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, the court was told.

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

Mr Manirakiza came over that same night and the three started drinking multiple shots and playing truth of dare, Ms Curran told the court.

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.

Nearly two years later, 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.

Mr Tongyik was charged in August 2023 and Mr Manirakiza was charged in March 2024.

Defence barrister Georgia Huxley previously 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 on the night, 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.

The trial continues.

Originally published as ‘Honest person’: Ex Socceroo Ruon Tongyik stands trial on rape allegations