
-With AAP.
1. Disturbing allegations emerge in NRL rape case against Jack de Belin.
Warning: This article deals with an account of rape/sexual assault and may be triggering for survivors of abuse.
NSW State of Origin player Jack de Belin has pleaded not guilty to raping a woman in company with his friend.
The 27-year-old – whose partner is pregnant with their first child – was charged with aggravated sexual assault after the alleged attack on a 19-year-old woman in a Wollongong unit in the early hours of December 9.
Police allege he had sexual intercourse with the woman without her consent, in circumstances of aggravation, and in the company of his friend Callan Sinclair.
He is alleged to have raped the women repeatedly, grabbing her around the throat and leaving visible injuries.
De Belin is alleged to have at one point urged his friend Sinclair to “come have a go”, according to the Daily Telegraph.
After meeting in a nightclub, the men are alleged to have told the woman they needed to charge their phones before heading out again, so they went to the nearby apartment of de Belin’s cousin who was not home at the time.
The woman said she used the bathroom and a naked de Belin barged in to take a shower.
Police said the woman then left the bathroom, but after his shower, de Belin came out naked and forcibly undressed her. He then allegedly pinned the woman down and sexually assaulted her, with his hand around her throat.