A rugby player has admitted kissing and hugging a 14-year-old girl in a “stolen moment” but claims he “cut it off” before things could progress to sexual activity.
Connor Lind, 23, is on trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after denying engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl.
He pleaded not guilty to four counts of having sex with a minor and one count of intentionally sexually touching a minor.
Prosecutors allege the rugby player was 19 when he had anal, oral and digital sex with the alleged 14-year-old victim.
On Thursday, Lind told jurors he had hugged the girl for “a stolen moment” and that they had kissed “a few times.”
He told the jury he became aroused during the hug but “stopped it immediately.”
“Look, we have to stop now, this is getting too hot,” Lind recalled telling the minor.
The rugby player, who was 19 at the time, said he set clear boundaries because he knew the girl was 14 and too young to consent to sexual activity.
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“I said nothing sexual could happen because of the age difference,” she told the jury.
Lind explained that she was trying to avoid “crossing a line” by not allowing herself to be in “an overly sexual position” with the minor.
When an adult contacted him about rumours that he was intimate with the 14-year-old, the 19-year-old said the suggestion was “disgusting”.
He told the court he did not reveal his time with the underage girl because he “felt quite embarrassed” about his attraction to “someone who is a little bit younger than me.”
He told the court he “felt like he shouldn’t have had those emotions” and that he “didn’t want to be belittled.”
“I was afraid of how people would perceive me,” said the young woman, now 23 years old.
“Because of the age difference, people looked at me like I was a lot more immature than I was… I felt like I would be judged for not being with someone my own age.”
Lind is also accused of putting his hand down the 14-year-old girl’s pants while he was sitting on the couch at his parents’ home.
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He denied the allegation when put to him by his lawyer Lisa-Claire Hutchinson, telling the jury he had rearranged the minor as they hugged.
A witness previously testified that she “heard noises” and looked over to see Lind digitally penetrating the 14-year-old girl on the couch next to her.
She said she loudly exclaimed “Jesus Christ” before leaving the house, but Lind said he didn’t hear her make any noise.
The next day, the witness confronted him about what she had seen in a message, the court was told.
“You should have known things were going to go bad when you put your hands down a 14-year-old girl’s pants with me wide awake next to you,” the witness said in a Snapchat message.
Lind responded that he had done “things I’m not proud of,” which he said was a reference to the shame he felt at being attracted to the underage girl.
He told the jury he had not addressed the witness’s claim that he had put his hand down the girl’s pants because he was distracted by the “heated” text exchange.
The entertainer is also accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 15-year-old girl in his red Jeep when she was 20 years old.
The minor previously told the jury that he had kissed her and put his hand inside her pants to touch her vagina.
She claimed Lind had offered to pull down her underwear and asked her to give him “a lick.” The teen recalled saying “no” several times, but told police he “kept doing it.”
Lind will be questioned about the 15-year-old’s claims on Monday, but has denied having sexual contact with any of the complainants.
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Ms Hutchinson argued that at the time her client was a promising rugby player and university student and had “every reason to uphold the law”.
The court heard he had played for two under-20 rugby teams and participated in rugby sevens competitions at the time of the allegations.
The 23-year-old told the court he dreamed of playing rugby “at the highest representative level possible”.
That dream — and his aspirations to become a physical education teacher — are on hold as he fights the allegations against him, Lind said.
The trial continues before Judge John Pickering on Monday.