Shegu Bobb, 27, leaves the ACT Courts during his jury trial. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child sexual abuse.
Jurors heard a girl claim it must have been “pretty obvious” that she was under 18 when she was speaking to a man on a dating app before he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
Shegu Bobb was 21 when he allegedly exchanged indecent messages with an 11-year-old girl over the dating app Badoo before indecently assaulting and digitally raping her in his car in February 2020.
He has pleaded not guilty to nine charges.
After the now-27-year-old’s trial began in the ACT Supreme Court earlier this week, jurors watched recordings of two interviews the girl had with police in the days and weeks after the alleged assaults, as well as her cross-examination around five years later.
When being questioned by defence barrister Wali Shukoor during cross-examination, the now-teenage girl accepted she entered her age as 19 when she signed up to Badoo as the app stated it wasn’t for those under 18.
Mr Shukoor suggested she never told Mr Bobb she was under 18 when allegedly talking to him via the app.
“I’m not sure,” she said.
“But if I had this photo on my profile, I think it would be pretty obvious I was under 18.”
Jurors had previously seen the photo the girl used on her Badoo profile.
Mr Shukoor also suggested Mr Bobb hadn’t kissed the girl in the car.
“I don’t remember everything from the car, but stuff happened in the car, I remember that much,” she said.
The defence barrister suggested to her: “The only thing that happened in that car is he touched you over your underwear. Isn’t that the truth?”.
She denied this.
The girl was later asked more about her comments by prosecutor Marcus Dyason and she said she remembered going into the back of the car before Mr Bobb began touching her leg and genitals.
However, she said she didn’t know if he digitally raped her.
Earlier in the cross-examination, the girl accepted she lied during her first interview with police by describing Mr Bobb as “a total stranger” when she got into his car and claiming he threatened her and squeezed her neck.
She accepted she lied to police in that interview to try and get him into more trouble. She said “at the age of 11”, she was willing to lie about the choking to police.
“I did want him to have a bad punishment for what he did,” she said.
“But it’s not all a lie.”
Mr Dyason asked the girl if she remembered why she wanted Mr Bobb to get a worse punishment.
“Because he made me upset so I didn’t want him to have a fun time, no,” she said.
The prosecutor also asked her why she didn’t tell police the truth in her first interview.
“I just didn’t want anyone to know I lied and was on an app,” she said.
The girl repeatedly said she could not remember the answers to some of Mr Shukoor’s questions.
“Like I’ve said, I do not remember, so long ago, these little details,” she said at one stage.
Mr Shukoor also challenged her on her accounts.
“Is that something you just made up on the spot right now?” he said at one stage.
“No,” she replied.
The barrister told the girl there was a police report from earlier in February 2020 that stated she had made a false accusation against a different person.
“At this moment, I don’t remember that happened,” she said.
She also appeared to become frustrated at times during her testimony.
“Could you stop rolling your eyes?” she asked Mr Shukoor at one point.
“I’m not rolling my eyes,” he replied.
Mr Bobb has pleaded not guilty to three counts of using a person for child abuse material, two counts of committing an act of indecency on a person under 16, two counts of using a carriage service to procure a person under 16, one count of sexual intercourse with a person under 16 and one count of transmitting indecent communication to a person under 16.
The trial continues before Justice Belinda Baker.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
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