Alleged rape victim tells court she is not lying
A woman who claims to have been raped by a teacher as a teenager has denied she is “lying her through her teeth” about the allegations.
The complainant, who can’t be named for legal reasons, claims she was raped by Stewart Robert Smith when she was 14-years-old.
Smith, of Winchester Park, denies three charges of rape and one of indecent assault alleged to have occurred between December 1, 2002 and August 31, 2003.
Under cross-examination by defence barrister John McCrudden QC, the woman denied suggestions she had created a lie about the alleged incidents and “had to follow through with it “.
She said she never created anything, insisting “this happened to me “.
The woman denied further suggestions that she gave a different account to police about the alleged sexual assault.
She told the defence barrister: “I have never changed my account, it has been consistent ,” and questioned why she would be at court if she was lying, stating “why would I put myself through it”.
At an earlier hearing the woman claimed Smith gave her alcohol as a 14-year-old girl and took her to a local bar on New Years Eve 2002.
Mr McCrudden said his client denied ever giving her alcohol or taking her to a bar, which would have been a “huge risk” for him as a teacher.
However, the woman said “I agree but he did it”.
She refused to agree with the barrister that if she was in a bar on that night it was with someone else , and told the jury “that’s not true I was with Mr Stewart Smith”.
The woman claimed she went to Smith’s home “numerous times” to consume alcohol and revealed she stayed overnight in the same bed with him five to ten times.
However, she said that nothing inappropriate happened on these occasions but after the first alleged rape “it appeared we were in this weird relationship”.
She claimed she knew that sleeping in the same bed as him “was kind of not the right thing to do. I didn’t want to touch him, I didn’t want to lead anything on “.
She told the barrister she could not remember everything about the contact with Smith over the year of the alleged sexual abuse.
“I have tried so hard to forget all this happened. I pushed it to the back of my head so I can get through life without having to consistently remember all this stuff. “
However, she said the alleged rapes and indecent assault “definitely happened”.
At hearing.
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