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'I'm scared that because of his profile people will hate us'
By AAP
A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by rugby star Kurtley Beale had concerns about telling police due to the former Wallaby’s public profile, a court has been told.
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Beale, 35, is facing one count of sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching in the NSW District Court, following an exchange at Bondi’s Beach Road Hotel in December, 2022.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, alleges Beale touched her backside and forced her to perform oral sex in a toilet cubicle, claiming later he was “extremely pissed” and likely would not remember the incident.
The woman’s father told a hearing on Monday he saw “fear on her face” before her telling him of the allegations.
“I’m scared that because of his profile people will hate us,” the father remembered his daughter saying.
The woman expressed similar concerns over Beale’s profile to her sister, as well as a fear she would not be believed.
“People don’t generally believe what girls say or judge in their favour – especially when alcohol is involved,” the sibling recalled the woman saying.
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Beale has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
During a second week of hearings, the trial on Monday heard from a number of family members and friends who described the woman as being distressed and crying in the period after the alleged assault.
The woman’s future mother-in-law, who she visited in Queensland to shop for a wedding dress, gave evidence to court.
The mother-in-law said the morning after the alleged assault the woman was crying and shaking as she revealed what had happened.
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While being driven to report the incident to police, the alleged victim elaborated on the claim, saying Beale forcibly put his penis in her mouth.
“Why didn’t you bite the f***ing thing?” the mother-in-law said she replied.
The woman told the mother-in-law that Beale was highly intoxicated during and in the lead-up to the alleged assault.
“He was extremely pissed,” the woman reportedly said.
“He could hardly stand up and he was pinching me on the arse all night.”
The woman also explained she didn’t tell her fiancé who was in a different section of the pub at the time and also “very drunk” for fears he would “end up in the police station”, the court was told.
A staff member at the Beach Road Hotel who was using the bathroom at the time of the alleged assault told the court on Monday he saw what he believed were a man and woman’s feet in the same cubicle.
The man said he was in the bathroom for roughly two minutes, during which he didn’t hear any sounds of a struggle or dispute from within the cubicle.
“I didn’t hear any noises the whole time,” the man said.
“Did you hear anyone say ‘no’?” Beale’s lawyer Margaret Cunneen SC asked him.
“I didn’t,” he replied.
Last week, the woman provided four days of evidence, including lengthy cross-examination by Ms Cunneen.
The barrister suggested the woman had concocted the rape allegation to gain sympathy from her fiancé and save her impending marriage when the couple’s relationship was strained.
“You have made this up for your own purposes to save the proposed marriage that you had been anticipating so excitedly,” she said.
