Alleged rape victim ‘could have done a lot better’ if she had made up claims against well-connected Melbourne man, court told

A Melbourne court has heard arguments in the case of a woman who says she was raped by a well-connected local man, as the accused faces two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault and has pleaded not guilty.

According to reporting monitored from a public feed by Novexa News, the prosecution told Victoria’s county court that the woman’s account contained “gaps or inconsistencies,” but argued that those issues actually supported her credibility rather than undermined it. The defence, however, says the complainant is lying.

During the hearing, the defence suggested the woman “could have done a lot better” if she had been inventing the allegations for money, a line that appeared aimed at challenging the idea that the accusations were fabricated. The man cannot be named.

The exchange comes in a case being closely watched in Victoria, where the court is weighing competing claims about the reliability of the evidence and the motivations behind the complaint. Based on the monitored public feed, the matter remains before the county court and no verdict was reported in the summary available.

Novexa News is reporting this story from a monitored public feed, with attribution to the original coverage below.

Source: The Guardian World - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jul/22/well-connected-melbourne-man-alleged-rape-court-ntwnfb