WARNING: Graphic content
An underage teenager who alleges she engaged in sexual acts with a promising rugby player and cheerleader has denied only cuddling him in her bedroom, a court has been told.
Connor Lind, 23, is facing trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court, where he has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges and denied engaging in sexual acts with two underage boys.
Mr. Lind pleaded not guilty to four counts of having sexual intercourse with a child and one count of intentionally sexually touching a child.
The Crown Prosecution Service has alleged that he engaged in anal, oral and digital sexual intercourse with a girl who was 14 at the time.
He has also denied putting his hand down the same girl’s trousers while she was on the sofa at his parents’ home in Allambie Heights on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The girl was in eighth or ninth grade at the time of the alleged offences, the court was told.
Mr Lind, through his lawyer Lisa-Claire Hutchinson, has denied having sexual contact with any of the girls, the court has been told.
Connor Lind, 23, faces trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court.
The jury on Thursday watched a video of the 14-year-old’s pre-recorded testimony.
During Ms Hutchinson’s questioning, she was asked if she and Mr Lind would hug inside her room.
“Yes, we would hug,” the girl said.
“Connor says nothing sexual happened in that room,” Ms. Hutchinson asked.
“False,” the girl replied.
The court has been told that Mr Lind argued that he told the girl he “did not want to risk ruining her career” because of their age difference.
Mr Lind also claims he told the girl that “rugby players only show the worst of themselves in the media”.
The girl said in her statement to the court that she did not remember those conversations.
The jury on Thursday also played a video of a recorded police interview with the girl in which she detailed sexual acts she allegedly engaged in with Mr. Lind.
The court was told that Mr Lind allegedly had anal sex with the girl inside her bedroom.
When an officer asked her if she had had anal sex with Mr Lind, she said: “Just once, it hurt too much.”
The court was told that she then told him: “We will not do that again.”
The girl told officers she did not have penile-vaginal intercourse with Mr. Lind because of her religious beliefs and that she was waiting to get married, but at the time consented to anal sex because in her mind it didn’t “count.”
Mr. Lind pleaded not guilty to four counts of having sex with a minor and one count of intentionally sexually touching a minor.
He later said in his testimony that his attitudes about what constituted “sex” had since changed.
The girl also told officers she performed oral sex on Mr. Lind inside the bathroom of her home.
The girl – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – also detailed an incident in which she alleges he put his hand inside her pants, under her underwear, while they were sitting together on the sofa watching television.
The court was told that another person in the room witnessed the incident. The other person said “Jesus Christ” and left, the girl told officers.
During his testimony in court, he said he did not remember the incident.
“I’ve blocked it out of my head for the most part,” the girl said, adding that she believed it was a coping mechanism.
The court was told that Mr Lind was aged between 19 and 20 at the time of the alleged offences.
Consent is not at issue during the trial, however the alleged sexual acts occurred during a period when both girls were minors.
He is also alleged to have put his hand down the trousers of another 15-year-old girl at Dee Why Beach.
The court was told one charge of having sexual intercourse with a child relates to an allegation he kissed the girl before putting his hand down her trousers as they sat in his car.
Mr Lind was arrested at Sutherland Police Station in August 2021 and does not deny knowing the girls were aged 14 and 15 at the time.
The court was told he denied engaging in any sexual acts with either complainant.
The trial before Judge John Pickering continues on Friday.
