A 26-year-old man has been summoned to appear before the ACT magistrates court next month over the alleged sexual assault of a former Morrison government staffer at Parliament House.
The man will face one charge of sexual intercourse without consent in relation to the alleged assault in Canberra in March 2019. His lawyer said on Friday night that his client “absolutely and unequivocally denies any form of sexual activity took place”.
ACT police released a statement on Friday afternoon confirming a charge was forthcoming and the man’s legal team had been served with his summons to appear in court.
Australian federal police began investigating an allegation a woman had been raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019 after she made a formal complaint. After a lengthy investigation, a brief of evidence was passed to the director of public prosecutions.
On Friday, it was announced a 26-year-old man had been summoned to appear before the ACT magistrates court charged with sexual intercourse without consent.
“Detectives from ACT policing’s criminal investigations, sexual assault and child abuse team, the specialist team dedicated to investigating sexual assaults in the ACT, first received a report in April 2019,” a police statement said.
“The investigation remained open and in February 2021 a formal complaint was made. Detectives have since spoken to a number of witnesses and collected evidence as part of the investigation.
“Officers today served the man’s legal representative with a summons to appear before the ACT magistrates court on 16 September 2021. The man will face one charge of sexual intercourse without consent.”
The 26-year-old’s lawyer, John Korn, said in a statement: “My client absolutely and unequivocally denies that any form of sexual activity took place at all. He will defend the charge.”
The alleged victim can’t be named for legal reasons.
• In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732) as well as Lifeline on 13 11 14. In the UK, the charity Mind is available on 0300 123 3393 and Childline on 0800 1111. In the US, Mental Health America is available on 800-273-8255. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
