A 47-year-old man has been found not guilty of twice raping another man in the crowded smoking area of an Oxford Street nightclub while the complainant was out with his partner.
David Charles Massa faced a NSW District Court trial charged with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent over an encounter with a stranger he met at Universal Sydney nightclub in the early hours of June 1, 2024.
The 12-person jury heard the complainant kissed Massa’s hand and invited him to join him and his girlfriend in the smoking area, where the prosecution alleged Massa flirted with the complainant, but the man “politely declined” his advances.
Massa was accused of then putting his hand down the back of the man’s underwear and committing sexual intercourse without consent twice, before staring at him while performing an act too graphic to detail.
The man, who had gone to Universal with his girlfriend after having dinner at the Beresford in Surry Hills, earlier told the court he initially struck up a conversation with Massa because he felt sorry that he was there alone.
He said the alleged assault made him feel “shocked and scared” and that he could not believe it happened with so many people around.
The man told the jury that Massa also tried to kiss him but he did not reciprocate the attempt. He said he rushed out of the nightclub with his partner.
The jury heard he told his partner what had allegedly occurred and reported it to medical staff and police the next day, after waking up in pain.
However, Massa’s defence team denied the sexual intercourse without consent. They acknowledged that intimate touching took place between the pair, but argued it was consensual.
Massa submitted that the complainant’s hasty exit from the club was not due to being molested but was because his girlfriend was angry after seeing an intimate moment.
In a recorded interview with police earlier played to the court, Massa told investigators he had “no idea what this is about” and that he “didn’t sexually assault anyone”.
Massa had pleaded not guilty to two back-up counts of sexual touching without consent, which he was cleared of due to the not guilty verdicts on the rape charges.
During the trial, which included less than a week of evidence, CCTV footage from inside the nightclub was shown to the jury. The prosecution and defence suggested differing interpretations of what it showed about the pair’s encounters.
The jury retired to deliberate on Friday and delivered their not guilty verdict to Judge Siobhan Herbert on Tuesday afternoon.
With AAP
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