Rumors about the identity of a high-profile Melbourne man ordered to stand trial for rape are circulating among Australia’s celebrity community.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with multiple rape offenses in August last year.
The defendant was also charged with attempted rape and sexual assault pertaining to a single alleged female victim.
Police alleged the alleged offenses occurred in March last year.
The man has pleaded not guilty to all charges and will face trial in Melbourne County Court at a later date.
Several high-profile Australian insiders told Daily Mail Australia that speculation about who the accused was was swirling like “wild fire.”
A source said they would “probably” know the identity in about “half an hour” after news of the rape case broke today.
Another said they were already aware of the rape charges.
A high-profile Melbourne man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with multiple rape offences.
Melbourne man will face rape trial at Melbourne County Court (pictured)
The man had a blanket suppression concealing his affairs, but several media outlets, including the Herald Sun, managed to have a partial suppression lifted in court on Thursday.
The man previously faced a committal hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court in June before his matter was sent to the County Court.
Police say the woman, who cannot be named, was at the man’s property in Melbourne at the time of the alleged offences. the guardian reported.
The court subsequently published a redacted version of the alleged victim’s statement to police, transmitted during a closed-door court proceeding.
The alleged victim claimed to have consumed a significant amount of alcohol and cocaine for several hours after encountering the man at his home, according to his statement to police.
He alleged that both substances had been supplied by the man.
The alleged victim also stated that he was carrying a large bag with about nine grams of cocaine in his pocket.
“I’ve always had it on me,” the woman claimed the man allegedly said.
The Melbourne man had been sentenced to stand trial after a hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court (pictured).
The woman said she had been emotional about separating from her partner and had been comforted by the man, who she said kissed and touched her “inappropriately.”
“Every time I felt like he was putting his hands somewhere I didn’t like, I would push them away and just say ‘stop’…” he said.
“I kept saying, ‘I don’t want this’… he was saying things like ‘you’re so sexy’ (and) ‘I can’t stop, I need your help to sleep,'” she said.
The woman alleged that the high-profile man raped her and she punched him in the face before she could free herself.
“He immediately grabbed her face and said, ‘You broke my nose,'” he said in the statement.
“He backed away and started acting like a baby, I got out of bed and ran to the couch, I said, ‘You’re a fucking rapist.'”
The woman claimed that the man denied raping her, allegedly saying “it’s not rape, I was using my fingers” and also claimed that the man had denied using his penis.
She said he had told her he wanted her to leave, but that she had decided to go to a spare room in his house.
Prominent lawyer Dermot Dann KC (pictured) had represented the man
She said she went to talk to him shortly after because “I was confused, I wanted to hear him say he knew what happened.”
The woman also alleged that the man began masturbating in front of her and told her ‘come here, do it for me, I need you to do it for me’, before leaving the room.
According to the statement, the woman had sent a text message with details of her accusations to her mother, who called police.
Investigators who had responded recorded the woman’s accusations with a body camera at the scene, the court heard.
All details revealed during the June prosecution had remained suppressed until today.
The court heard evidence from witnesses including the alleged victim, the man’s former employees, a business associate and friend of the man and police.
Victoria Police reporting detective Senior Constable Joshua Guy was pressed by defense lawyer Dermot Dann KC about emails the police officer had sent about the case.
The emails included one about the man’s request for a suppression order in which the informant strongly objected to a gag order being “gifted” to someone whose crime was related to his “arrogance” and “personal status.”
The defendant was also charged with attempted rape and sexual assault pertaining to a single alleged female victim.
Psychiatrist Dr. Jacqueline Rakov said at the suppression order hearing in October that the defendant had been admitted to a mental health clinic twice since he was charged for fear of harming himself.
Rakov said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety, and had a bad mood, loss of interest in activities he previously enjoyed, lack of concentration and low self-confidence and sense of purpose.
The doctor said the defendant mostly stayed at home, did not go to work or socialize, and was terrified of being outside.
The defendant’s distress had increased following media coverage of a previous court appearance, the court was told.
“He said, ‘If I’m guilty, put it on the front page,'” Dr. Rakov said.
The matter will return to court at a later date.