Warning: This post describes a case of child abuse and may be triggering for some readers.
A “tired” working mum never considered the possibility her husband was drugging her at their Sydney home so he could sexually assault her daughter, a jury has heard.
The woman, who can’t be named for legal reasons, on Thursday said she noticed “powdery substances” in drinks made by her husband and she would suffer “extreme and sudden tiredness” that led her to seek medical tests.
“You just reassured me I was tired … I trusted you and I believed you,” she said at the Downing Centre District Court during her cross examination by the accused.
“I would ask you ‘have you put sugar in it?’ and you would say ‘no I haven’t done anything’… (but) it would taste different to when I made the drink.”
The 45-year-old man is representing himself after pleading not guilty to drugging his wife and stepdaughter.
He has pleaded guilty to 99 charges relating to the sexual abuse of his stepdaughter which started when she was 12.
A doctor told the jury the girl said her stepfather would crush travel sickness tablets to mix in her mother’s food and drink, and when she fell asleep he would sexually abuse the stepdaughter.
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