The complainant invited the defendant over to watch a movie and was allegedly raped. Photo / 123rf
The complainant invited the defendant over to watch a movie and was allegedly raped. Photo / 123rf
WARNING: This article discusses allegations of sexual assault and may be upsetting to some readers.
A teen who was allegedly raped by a friend she’d invited over to watch a movie thought asking him to wear a condom might be enough to stop him.
But, instead the 24-year-old allegedly threw the condom at her, pinned her down and continued the rape.
It was the second time in days the girl was allegedly raped by William Stainton who is now on trial for two charges of unlawful sexual connection by rape.
On Monday the Crown opened its case to the jury at the Whangārei District Court describing events dating back to before 2020.
Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly said Stainton, who was 19 at the time, had known the girl for a few years through friends.
At some time that year the girl invited Stainton over and they watched a movie together on the laptop in her bedroom. At the time she was living with her parents and siblings who were also home.
Kelly said when the movie was over, the girl leant over to the bedside cabinet to put away her laptop and when she turned back, Stainton kissed her.
The girl said in evidence she was okay with the kissing but was shocked when he allegedly pulled her tights down to her ankles, got on top of her and began to rape her. She managed to push him off and told him to stop, which he did.
The Crown said Stainton apologised and the girl told him she wasn’t interested in a relationship with him and they managed to work it out.
Over coming days the pair allegedly communicated over Snapchat and she advised him she didn’t mind hanging out, but only as friends.
With that in mind, she invited him over again to watch a movie but once again, when she turned around after putting her laptop away, he allegedly kissed her.
Things quickly changed when Stainton allegedly pulled her tights right off, got on top of her and held her forearms down before raping her.
The Crown said the girl thought if she told him to use a condom, she would be able to get away.
The trial is running before Judge John McDonald. Photo / NZME
Stainton allegedly let go of one of her arms and as she handed him a condom, he allegedly said he was not putting it on, threw it at her and continued.
“On the first occasion Mr Stainton didn’t really care if she was consenting or not, he just went ahead and did what he wanted.
“On the second occasion, the Crown says he absolutely knew she was not consenting, she was saying stop.
“No reasonable person in that bedroom on those two nights would have thought [the complainant] was consenting,” Kelly said.
Stainton’s lawyer Matthew Ridgley told the jury there are two sides to every story and the complainant’s story was unreliable.
Facebook messages were presented into evidence in which the complainant sent a message to Stainton saying that she was out of line, not thinking and had got a fright when things moved so soon.
There was no response from Stainton and when the complainant was asked by Ridgley why she had sent that message she said she wanted to clear the air.
“I didn’t want it to leak, I didn’t want all of his friends who are quite notorious for not being the loveliest of people and I didn’t want them to find out and be nasty about it,” she said.
The complainant alleges she and her mother collated a text sent to Stainton via Snapchat about the sex being non-consensual and alleged he responded by calling her horrible names.
Due to the instant delete function none of the alleged Snapchat messages have been presented to the jury.
Ridgley put to the witness she had removed her leggings because it was hot and the sex was consensual to which she maintained it was not.
“I wasn’t ready to have sex with William. I didn’t want to have sex with him,” she said.
The trial, before Judge John McDonald, continues.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.
