Man cleared of raping estranged wife while pretending to be another man
Yahoo!7 News November 19, 2013, 11:45 am
A New Zealand man accused of raping his estranged wife while pretending to be another man has had his "bizarre" rape trial thrown out of court.
The Stratford man was facing trial by jury on two counts of sexual violation by rape and four counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection in what judge Allan Roberts reportedly described as the "most extraordinary" trial he had ever sat on.
"This has been the most bizarre and complex case that I've seen in 15 years," said defence lawyer Paul Keegan.
The charges originated from two sexual encounters between the accused man and his ex-wife in 2012 that have been compared with scenes of the popular 50 Shades of Grey novel.
They reportedly kept in contact after their 15-year marriage ended and the prosecution alleged the man also purchased a new phone which his wife didn't know about and began texting her under an alias.
It was alleged he sent his estranged wife a message saying, "Hi sexy" and when she replied asking who was behind the text he said "Anyone you want me to be."
The woman had regular conversations with her husband, under the impression she was messaging another 20-year-old man, which reportedly grew very sexual in nature.
When she allowed him to visit her home for sex, he said he would only visit under the conditions that he wear a balaclava and blindfold her because he was nervous and didn't want to show his face.
The 50 Shades of Grey series were allegedly an inspiration for the racy messages. Photo: AFP.
Defence lawyer Paul Keegan said a copy of one of the 50 Shades of Grey novels was found next to the woman's bed, along with another book about 'sexual awakening', which inspired many of the racy text messages.
It was alleged in court that on October 26 last year, the man visited his ex-wife's home with his face covered by the balaclava and sunglasses.
He remained silent during the encounter and they moved straight to the bedroom where the man allegedly left his ex-wife tied to the bed when he left after sex.
The prosecution alleged she believed she was having sex with the 20-year-old man.
The summary of facts said the woman "found the sexual encounter exciting, [but] she was disappointed she did not get to see [the man] after it had finished", and there was a second sexual encounter nine days later.
This time when the man left her blindfolded after sex, she followed him. She reportedly grew suspicious when she called him back but he continued to run away, prompting her to call police.
The defence maintained throughout the entire case that the accused man's estranged wife knew it him during the encounters or at least had some suspicion it was him.
