Dr Richard Emory McGary is fighting his charges at an ACT Supreme Court trial. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged sexual assault.
The evidence showed a man accused of raping two women tended to disrespect the boundaries of his intimate partners, prosecutors alleged as his trial approached its end.
Dr Richard Emory McGary, aged in his late 30s, pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexual intercourse without consent in his ACT Supreme Court jury trial.
“The Crown says that each woman’s account lends support to the other’s experience with the accused,” prosecutor Emma Bayliss told jurors during the trial’s closing submissions on Wednesday (23 July).
Jurors heard he hadn’t known either woman for long before the alleged assaults.
The first woman described Dr McGary as “a determined pursuer” who was “over the top” with his compliments, while the second woman said he was “charming” and “super nice” at first.
In 2016, the first woman went to his room where they engaged in some consensual sexual activity, but she told him she didn’t want to have sex.
She alleged she was then joking around when she told him she had never made a mistake before, to which he replied, “There’s a first time for everything”, and had sex with her without her consent while she froze.
The woman said she sent him a text message the next day, telling him, “You did the wrong thing yesterday”. He allegedly replied, “Yeah, I know”.
In a later message to him, she wrote, “That I kissed you did not mean that I wanted to have sex with you”, and, “That I froze up, that I did not want to fight you, does not mean I wanted to have sex with you”.
Then in 2020, the second woman said they were kissing before he allegedly had sex with her without her consent, even though she had told him, ”No”.
Ms Bayliss claimed the women’s accounts showed he had a tendency to “disrespect their personal boundaries”, and he also had a tendency to ignore communication around a lack of consent.
Prosecutor Trent Hickey claimed Dr McGary was “sexually dominant and assertive”. He told jurors they could have gotten a sense of his “assertiveness” from listening to his cross-examination.
“I did not have my way with her,” Dr McGary said when cross-examined about the second woman.
On Thursday (24 July), defence lawyer Andrew Tiedt noted his client didn’t have to prove his innocence and if the jurors had a reasonable doubt about the case, they had to find him not guilty.
He said the two women were obviously hurt by what happened between them and his client, but he argued that was a very long way from finding that he committed offences against them.
Mr Tiedt said the first woman had written in her diary, “Was I sexually assaulted yesterday?”, which was an “ambiguous” statement.
The lawyer said she’d told a friend she hadn’t wanted to have sex that day, but also that Dr McGary hadn’t forced her to do it.
“You can’t take back consent after the event,” Mr Tiedt said.
“Perceptions change… but facts are facts, and facts don’t change.”
He argued that in the first woman’s own words from the time, she didn’t know if she consented.
“She didn’t know, do you? Beyond a reasonable doubt?” he asked the jury.
When it came to the second woman, Mr Tiedt claimed she sent his client an affectionate message in the hours after the alleged assault, then also went on to send his client “flirty” messages later.
There was no message between them suggesting his client sexually assaulted her, the lawyer said.
Mr Tiedt said his client’s evidence sat entirely at odds with the women’s evidence and jurors might find his client had been clear, consistent and straightforward.
“This is not about which version you prefer. This is about whether the Crown has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.
Chief Justice Lucy McCallum, when giving her summary of the case to jurors, said Dr McGary accepted that the sexual acts occurred, so the issue for the trial was whether the women consented to them.
The trial continues.
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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