Mar 12, 2017

Man accused of raping, torturing and beating partners over two decades

Abuse charges: The man has been charged with 10 counts of sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of indecent ...
Melanie Kembrey
Sydney Morning Herald
March 11,  2017


The former partner of a man accused of raping and torturing a succession of women he lived with over more than two decades says he pummelled her with a piece of wood when she was pregnant.

" Today's my birthday ... I want my son to be born on my birthday," the man allegedly said before smashing up a wooden bed and hitting the woman in the stomach.

Abuse charges: The man has been charged with 10 counts of sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of indecent assault and eight counts of detain for advantage.

The woman went into early labour that night, and gave birth to her son five weeks prematurely.

The woman is the first of seven expected to give evidence against the man who is accused of physically and psychologically abusing them on the NSW Central Coast between 1988 and 2014.

The man has been charged with 10 counts of sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of indecent assault and eight counts of detain for advantage.

The court has heard horrific details of the abuse the man, now 52, subjected the women to, including raping them with household objects, forcing them to eat their dinners off the floor, and hog-tying them and placing them face down in a bath filled with water.

In the Downing Centre District Court on Friday, the former partner described how the man flew into a fury after she bumped into an ex-boyfriend while they were at an RSL club together.

The man, the court heard, sat the woman down and threw bread knives at her before he beat her unconscious.

"I should have been your first boyfriend. You're a slut. You should have told me you had someone else before me," he allegedly said.

The man taped the woman's young daughter to a bed before he forced her to go to a phone box and lie about her injuries.

"When I woke up, he said to me, 'We're going to go to the phone to ring mum and tell her that an intruder broke into the house,' " the woman said.

On another occasion the man allegedly forced the woman's daughter to stab her in the head with a fork. He is also accused of sexually abusing the daughter when she was five years old.

The man, who the court heard was a member of the Jehovah's Witness Church, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In his opening address, Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield  said the man forged and maintained relationships with younger women over time.

Mr Hatfield said the man intended to "frighten such females and to render them powerless" so he could control and dominate them as he pleased.

The court heard that he and his wife at the time made one young woman, who was staying at their home, stand on thumbtacks, sleep in the laundry and shave off all her hair.

The pair allegedly made the woman stay up all night massaging their feet, rammed her hands in the door and burnt her legs on a heater.

The court heard the doors on the house were deadlocked so the woman could not leave and she was told there was a pin code on the phone for all outgoing calls.

"I'm your king. You are my slave you're never going anywhere. You'll never escape me," he allegedly told another female partner after raping her.

The trial will continue on Monday.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/man-accused-of-raping-torturing-and-beating-former-partners-over-two-decades-20170310-guv3v0

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