A farmer has been jailed for more than three years for raping a British backpacker who was working on his land to secure her visa.
Wayne Robert Green was found guilty on Thursday of rape and of procuring a sexual act by intimidation after a three-day trial at Kingaroy District Court in Queensland. He was found not guilty of assault.
The 53-year-old had denied the charges.
The father-of-three was aware that his victim and had no money and wanted to stay in Australia, Judge Glen Cash said, the South Burnett Times reported.
Wayne Robert Green was found guilty on Thursday of rape and of procuring a sexual act by intimidation after a three-day trial at Kingaroy District Court in Queensland
‘You took advantage of that position,’ Judge Cash said.
‘There was no real consent given by her. It’s caused her relationship problems and a fear of men.’
The court heard how Green raped the woman while she worked on his farm in Mondure for two weeks as part of her working holiday visa.
She needed to complete 88 days of farm work to extend her visa and found Green’s ad offering work on Gumtree.
The woman’s prosecutor Christa Nicola had earlier told the court how the woman came home from the pub one evening and Green ‘he would pay her’ for oral sex.
‘She was worried he was going to rape her if she didn’t comply,’ Ms Nicola said, adding that the woman only had $4 to her name at the time.
The man was naked at the time and the victim was drunk.
‘She felt as though she had no choice. He laid her on the sofa, she was naked, he was naked, he was touching himself … at some point she had his penis in his mouth,’ Ms Nicola said.
‘He said the words “suck my c*** you w***” and he was aggressive and pushing her head down.’
The court heard how Green raped the woman while she worked on his farm in Mondure for two weeks as part of her working holiday visa
In another incident, Green allegedly touched the woman’s breasts without her consent while she was in a truck with Green and a male farm worker.
But the other man told the court he didn’t see Green touch her breasts during the trip.
‘There was one point where we were all drunk and she was all flashing cars with her breasts,’ the witness said. ‘I was flirting with her, I might have touched her breasts.’
He also said he may have ‘sucked on her breast’ during the journey, that he was friends with the woman and slept with her a couple of times.
The man said the backpacker had told him about having oral sex with Green, but that he ‘didn’t really ask questions about it’.
However, three other witnesses told the court that the British woman told them that she had been sexually assaulted by Green, with one saying she said it ‘was the worst time of her life’.
Two witnesses said the victim said Green had a ‘no doors policy’ in the house, would walk around naked and sometimes go into the bathroom while she was showering.
This made her uncomfortable and scared to be there alone with him, one witness said.