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Boy on trial for rape by aiding home invasion assault
A teenager pleaded not guilty to five rape charges after allegedly detaining a man at knifepoint while his partner was sexually assaulted in their Cairns home.
In brief
A teenager pleaded not guilty to five rape charges after allegedly detaining a man at knifepoint while his partner was sexually assaulted in their Cairns home. A boy faces trial in Cairns Children's Court accused of enabling a home invasion rape by holding the victim's partner at knifepoint while two co-offenders…
Three boys broke into a Cairns home
Police allege three boys broke into a property in Manunda at about three am on February twenty-first, twenty twenty-five. The woman inside was raped multiple times by two boys.
One boy held the partner at knifepoint
The defendant allegedly detained the woman's partner in another room at knifepoint while his two co-offenders raped her in the bedroom and on the patio.
The couple was threatened with weapons
The boys allegedly threatened the couple in bed with a tomahawk, a knife, and an axe. The woman volunteered to leave the bedroom to get her wallet after the threats.
The man felt he could not leave
The woman's partner felt that if he made one wrong move, he and his partner could have been seriously injured or worse. He felt he could not leave the bedroom.
Crown says defendant enabled the rape
Prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the judge-only trial the boy did not physically rape the woman but aided and enabled the assault by preventing her partner from intervening.
“He's arming himself with a knife before the female complainant was removed from the main bedroom by his two co-offenders.”
Defence argues he did not hear the threat
Defence barrister Timothy Grau said the boy failed to hear the alleged comments that a co-accused was planning to rape the victim. English was not his first language.
Boy pleaded guilty to other charges
The seventeen-year-old pleaded guilty to six charges including stealing, going armed in company, and detaining the couple at their home. He pleaded not guilty to five rape charges.
Prosecutor's fallback argument
If the judge is not satisfied with her main case, prosecutor Nicole Friedewald said the trio formed a common expanded intention to commit sexual violence once they found the woman semi-naked in bed.
“The trio formed a common expanded intention to commit sexual violence upon the woman.”
Trial expected to conclude this week
The trial in Cairns Children's Court is expected to last two days. The cases of the two co-accused are still before the courts.
The headline
A boy faces trial in Cairns Children's Court accused of enabling a home invasion rape by holding the victim's partner at knifepoint while two co-offenders assaulted her.
