An aboriginal man has been found guilty of raping an elderly woman in her bed at an aged-care home in Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast.
Hayden Carl Skinner, 31, denied having any sexual contact with his victim, claiming she attacked and grabbed him after he broke into her room to steal valuables and pay off a drug debt on January 1, 2024.
But NSW District Court Judge Michael McHugh found Skinner guilty of one count of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent after a judge-only trial on Thursday, the Australian Associated Press reported.
The woman, who has since died of unrelated causes, was seen screaming in the hallway of the facility while naked from the waist down after the attack, and told a nurse she had been raped by a masked man.
She was taken to hospital for bruising to her inner thighs and provided statements to police, and Skinner’s DNA was found on her genitals and clothing, and under her fingernails.
Skinner, who posted about being proudly aboriginal on social media and called on other indigenous people to get vaccinated against Covid, was not required to testify but chose to anyway, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
He told the court his victim got him in a “bear hug”, grabbed him by the genitals and that he grabbed her by the inner thighs to free himself from her before running away.
Public defender Peter Pearsall argued the victim was not a truthful or credible witness, and claimed she had shown a “racial attitude” by describing her attacker as “very, very black”, and in a statement where she said she didn’t want to go inside a police station when black people were there.
The lawyer also highlighted “suggested inconsistencies” in her statements, including that Skinner was clean shaven and wearing jeans, while he was bearded and arrested in board shorts.
But Judge McHugh found Skinner’s version of events was unconvincing, rejected the possibility that DNA could have ended up on the victim’s genitals by accidental transfer, and that the trauma of sexual assault could have affected her memory of the attack.
“I am unable to accept she was sitting in bed without her incontinence pad and in rejecting that, I find his evidence was part of a deliberate lie to explain away how his DNA was found on her clothes.
“This was an otherwise intelligent woman who I found to be not cognitively impaired in any way. In all circumstances, I find beyond reasonable doubt the accused knew she did not consent, in regards to her protestations.”
“I am also satisfied as to aggravation that he broke in with the intention of sexual assault, as he must have formed that view on entering that room, given he assaulted her immediately.”
Skinner, who has been in custody since his arrest three days after the attack, will face court again on February 2 when a sentencing day will be set.
Header image: Left, Hayden Carl Skinner (Facebook). Right, during his arrest (NSW Police).
The post Aboriginal man, 31, found guilty of raping woman, 76, in aged-care home first appeared on The Noticer.
The NoticerRead More
T1
