Woman 'felt very disgusted' after alleged rape by fellow defence force cadet

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to an alleged sexual assault.

A woman was “in denial” and “felt very disgusted” after she was allegedly sexually and indecently assaulted by a fellow cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA).

Angus Ross Robertson, 24, is accused of assaulting her in October 2022, jurors heard when his trial started in the ACT Supreme Court this week.

On Wednesday (2 April), jurors heard the woman’s interview with police in 2023, in which she alleged she repeatedly told him things that night like, “We’re not having sex”.

But she alleged he made “very pushy, persistent comments”, such as, “Oh come on, you know you want to have sex with me”, and “Let me show you how good I can f-k you”.

She said they began having sex after she said, “Yeah, sure”, but then alleged he didn’t stop when she told him to and she had to push him off her.

The woman said she spoke to him the next day but didn’t talk about the alleged assault.

“I was very much in denial about it. I felt very disgusted,” she said.

In the following days, another woman Mr Robertson had had sex with told the woman that he had a sexually transmitted disease (STI) at the time.

“I was very frustrated, very angry, because he didn’t mention that or ask to use protection or anything,” the woman alleged.

She alleged that when she confronted Mr Robertson about having an STI, he initially denied it before saying, “Okay, well yeah, no I do.”

During the woman’s cross-examination, Mr Robertson’s barrister, Sharyn Hall SC, suggested to her that she wanted to have sex with him.

“I definitely did not,” the woman replied.

Ms Hall also suggested that in her version of events, Mr Robertson was asking to have sex with her.

“He was not asking,” the woman replied.

But under questioning from Ms Hall, the woman agreed Mr Robertson hadn’t forced his way into her room that night, she hadn’t told him something like, “No, get out”, in the room before the alleged incident, and he hadn’t physically forced her to have sex.

She also admitted she had consensual sex with him in 2021, but she may have misremembered when this happened.

On Thursday (3 April), a medic at a health centre said the woman had asked for an STI screening in October 2022.

“She asked me if there were any extra tests to do if the sex was non-consensual,” she said.

The medic said she asked if the sex was non-consensual and the woman shook her head. But when the medic’s supervisor came into the room and asked her the same question, the woman said it wasn’t consensual and she had to “force him off her”.

During cross-examination, the medic said she thought the woman had told her she had been drunk at the time of the alleged assault.

Jurors also heard from several ADFA cadets to whom the woman had reported part of her claims. One of them said that in the days after the woman returned from the medical centre, she “opened up” to her.

She said the woman told her she saw Mr Robertson at ADFA that night and he made several comments like, “I know you want to do it”, before, “She reluctantly said yes”.

“Then during the sex, she definitely changed her mind and didn’t want it anymore and started saying no. She had to physically get him off her,” the cadet said.

Also, the captain in charge of the woman’s division at ADFA said in October 2022 that the woman told him she had been kissing Mr Robertson and asked him to stop after they began having sex, but “Angus kept going”.

“I said to [the woman], what you’re describing is sexual assault,” he said.

“She appeared quite shocked.”

Mr Robertson has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of sexual intercourse without consent and committing an act of indecency without consent.

The trial continues before Justice David Mossop.

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.