Missing man acquitted in rape case

(CNS): Stephen Mason, who absconded while on bail in relation to a rape allegation but was tried in his absence, was acquitted Tuesday, along with his co-accused. The two men were both accused of raping in 2012 a woman who had worked for Mason for a short period as a helper. She claimed the men had sex with her when she was so intoxicated she could not give consent. But Justice Charles Quin, who tried the case without a jury, said he was troubled by her accounts and had concerns about her evidence, as he delivered his verdict finding the two men not guilty.

The judge pointed to the lies the woman had told and the inconsistencies in her evidence. While insisting on the one hand that she was so intoxicated she was barely conscious, she had given a very detailed account to the police of the location and the sex acts.

The woman had admitted in court that at first she had lied to her boyfriend, family and police, telling them she had been abducted at gun point and raped by strangers. She eventually told the police that it was her boss and his friend that had raped her. But her account in court conflicted significantly with the statements she gave to the police when she accused Mason and his friend, saying at the time she felt she just went along with what was happening.

When pressed, she had blamed the officers in the investigation for writing things she had not said and claimed she signed her statements without reading them.

Justice Quin accepted that rape victims do lie because they can feel embarrassed and ashamed about what has happened to them. But in this case her allegations about the firearms were of real concern and he questioned whether it was something she said by way of revenge for a rape or for being shabbily treated after consenting to sex.

He pointed to the consistency in the evidence Mason gave to the police before he was charged and that of his friend, who the court heard was a bus driver, and how similar their evidence was to that given by the alleged victim in her interview with the police.

He said there was no evidence that she was objecting or resisting at any time, and Mason had said in his statements, which were heard in court despite his absence, that it was clear from the beginning the pair were going to have sex that night.

When talking to the police after she had recanted her claims of being abducted, she was able to describe the apartment where she claimed the rape happened in great detail, going as far as making a sketch. She also gave a full account of the intercourse she had with Mason, even though she claimed to be so intoxicated she could not recall very much at all when she was in the witness box. Her criticisms of the police and her claims that the statements did not reflect what she said also troubled the judge.

Justice Quin said she had criticized the police with regard to the most important parts of her evidence.

The judge also said that he found the second man, who did appear for his trial and who at 34 years old was of good character with no previous convictions, “was truthful, consistent and reliable” when he gave evidence and the judge said he was impressed by his demeanour.

This contrasted with his findings regarding the complainant’s evidence, where there were too many inconsistencies “on too many of the material and fundamental facts”, as he questioned whether she was unable to give consent and whether the two men believed she had. With no evidence of force, threats or deceit on the part of the defendants or resistance on her part, he wondered whether she had tried to revoke consent after the fact.

“I am not sure she did not consent and believe both defendants reasonably believed she was consenting,” Justice Quin said as he acquitted Mason, who nevertheless remains a fugitive from the law, and his co-defendant, who the judge said could go back to driving his bus with his reputation untarnished.