Cross-dresser forced himself on woman, court hears

A Rotorua man with a fetish for dressing up in women's clothing and being tied up and locked in a wardrobe is on trial for allegedly raping a woman who regularly tied him up.
Gordon Murray Waite, 42, is on trial before Judge Robert Wolff and a jury in the Rotorua District Court.
He has pleaded not guilty to a charge of raping the woman at her Rotorua home in March last year.
In openings yesterday Crown Prosecutor Chris Macklin told the jury Waite got pleasure out of cross-dressing and being tied up with stockings.
The woman, her husband and Waite had known each other for about a year, living in the same area.
However, in March last year the woman and her husband had been separated and she was living alone.
In the weeks before the alleged rape, Waite had revealed his fetish to the woman, visiting with a plastic bag full of women's clothing he would dress in and then get her to tie him up and lock him in a wardrobe.
"It was a bit of a game ... He would give her money to let him out," Mr Macklin said.
The pair never had a sexual relationship.
However, one evening Waite turned up at the woman's home about 10.30pm and started to help her get things ready for her job the next day.
When they finished she thought he had left for the night and she went on her computer and headed to bed a short time later.
Waite then jumped out of her wardrobe, Mr Macklin said.
"She thought he had left and went to get ready for bed.
"She stripped down and out of the wardrobe jumped Mr Waite wearing just a woman's g-string.
"He forced her on to the bed and said to her if she has sex with him he will pay for her divorce," he said.
The woman said no but he didn't listen.
"The key issue for you today is one of consent," he told the jury.
"Whether she consented and whether he believed on reasonable grounds he had her consent to have sex with her."
Waite's lawyer Andy Schulze also told the jury the issue was one of consent when they came to reaching a verdict.
"You must be sure," he said.
In evidence given via closed circuit television, the woman said she and Waite were friends, with him regularly visiting after her husband left temporarily while they sorted out issues in their relationship.
One night he told her about his fetish and asked if she would help him pick clothes, tie him up and lock him in a closet.
Although she was a bit reluctant to do it, she did tie him up twice before he raped her, she said. "I didn't want to do it at first," she said.
Waite offered her $100 if he couldn't escape from the closet.
Waite would dress up in women's clothes at night and walk to the lake from his home, the woman said. He frightened her when he jumped out of her bedroom closet one night in March, threw her on the bed and raped her, she said in evidence.
"I was so grossed out, I was struggling to get away so I just went along with it," she said.
"I was scared he would hit me.
"He is taller than me.
"I'm not that strong and couldn't push a guy that strong off me ... I saw it in his eyes.
"His eyes didn't look very happy, gave me the indication if I didn't go along with it he would hit me."
The trial is expected to finish tomorrow.