Two former Australian Defence Force Academy cadets have gone on trial after one of them allegedly had sex with a female cadet and broadcast the video over the internet
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Daniel McDonald, 21, and Dylan De Blaquiere, 20, have pleaded not guilty before the ACT Supreme Court on charges of using a carriage service in an offensive manner.
McDonald is also charged with committing an act of indecency on a fellow cadet.
There is no contest McDonald had sex with the woman, who was 18 at the time, as his six friends watched through a webcam in De Blaquiere’s room in March 2011.
The court heard McDonald had entered a ‘‘friends with benefits’’ arrangement with the alleged victim on the day of the incident.
But the woman set three rules for the casual sexual relationship, including that no one else at ADFA was to know.
McDonald then told De Blaquiere about the sex pact. He later texted McDonald saying: ‘‘I just had a f---in sick idea pop into my head, f--- her n film it [sic].’’
Jurors heard McDonald had arranged to have sex with the woman later that evening and organised to stream it, via Skype, to De Blaquiere.
In prerecorded evidence, the woman said she noticed McDonald’s laptop was open on his desk when she entered his room but thought nothing of it.
She said the sex was ‘‘quite quick’’ and he showered before letting her out of a side door of his dormitory building.
She returned to her room to discover McDonald had accidentally sent her a message on Facebook boasting he was ‘‘about to root a girl n [sic] have a webcam set up to the boys in another room’’. She said she immediately messaged him back: ‘‘Please tell me that wasn’t on webcam.’’
An agitated McDonald called her soon after and said he did not have a webcam and the message was a prank by a friend.
She accepted his explanation and went to bed. Her evidence continues on Tuesday.
The fact the defendants had broadcast the sexual encounter is not disputed.
In her opening statement on Monday, prosecutor Kylie Weston-Scheuber said the Crown would allege the woman did not consent to the sex being filmed and transmitted.
Ms Weston-Scheuber said McDonald committed the act of indecency by activating Skype and streaming the sex without the woman’s knowledge.
The prosecutor told jurors the lack of consent also constituted the charge of misusing a carriage service.
But the defence said the alleged victim was a willing participant who waved at the camera.
The defence barrister told jurors they should not base their decision on a moral judgment and instead ask themselves if the incident was a breach of criminal law.
He said there was no evidence De Blaquiere knew the woman was unwilling to be filmed and watching could not amount to a breach of community standards.
The jury trial continues before acting Justice John Nield on Tuesday.
