Dunedin businessman guilty of rape

Robert Anthony Scott. PHOTO: ROB KIDD
Robert Anthony Scott. PHOTO: ROB KIDD
A Dunedin businessman has been found guilty of five sexual assault charges.

Robert Anthony Scott, 69, has been on trial at the Dunedin District Court for the past two weeks.

Yesterday, a jury found him guilty of three charges of rape, sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault and assaulting a female — all relating to the same victim.

He was acquitted of two further charges of rape, two other charges of assaulting a female and a charge of indecent assault.

Another rape charge was dismissed at trial.

Scott was remanded in custody until his sentencing in August.

At trial, Scott argued he never physically assaulted the woman and any sexual activity with her was consensual.

The Crown showed the jury two videos taken by the victim.

One depicted Scott raping the woman while she said "please, I can’t breathe" and "ouch, you’re hurting me".

The other showed the defendant indecently assaulting the woman before calling her a "f... ... whingy bitch".

In his closing address, Crown prosecutor Craig Power told the jury "the videos don’t lie".

Defence counsel Fiona Guy Kidd, KC, argued the victim’s behaviour in the videos was "not genuine" and accused her of "roleplaying" and "acting".

She said the woman’s complaints were "motivated by anger" and the footage was part of a "long-term plan to extort" him.

The victim gave evidence she filmed the situation to prove to Scott he was hurting her, but did not show him the footage until more than a year after she took it.

"This doesn’t sit right ... what it feels like is a setup," Ms Guy Kidd said.

The jury rejected that, and found the defendant guilty of both crimes captured on video. Scott was also found guilty of assaulting the woman, by grabbing her face and/or kicking her legs in an angry outburst and forcing her to perform a sex act on him while in a car.

The Crown alleged Scott urinated on the woman while she was in the shower and raped her on two other occasions, but the jury found him not guilty on those charges.

Charging documents listed the defendant as a property developer.

He holds shares in car sales yard Scott’s Auto Sales and the Dunedin Casino, according to the Companies Office.

felicity.dear@odt.co.nz

 

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