A wheelchair-bound woman has told a jury she was within eyeshot of her mother when she was sexually assaulted by accused molesting masseur Mark Horsfall.
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The woman was visiting her South Coast mother from interstate in January 2021.
She alleges the assault happened after she wheeled herself through her mother's house and transferred herself onto an ottoman in the back room, in preparation for a massage she believed would be beneficial to her condition.
She said she was lying face down, wearing boxer shorts, when Horsfall digitally penetrated her.
"I jolted and said, 'don't'," said the woman, appearing via audio-visual link at Wollongong District Court on Tuesday.
"I tried to sit up ... He sucked on his finger and said, 'you taste yummy'. I didn't say anything at all. Nothing.
"He walked away, went up and sat with mum, had a conversation with mum ... By the time I got up to where he and mum was, he had finished his coffee."
"He stated to me it would be a professional massage and I trusted him and, being in my parents' house and [with] my mother 10 metres away, I felt safe that he wouldn't try anything. But he did."
The jury was shown an earlier text exchange in which the woman sought an assurance from Horsfall that the massage would be "purely professional" and he replied, "yes always".
The woman disclosed the alleged assault in March 2021, after she saw media reports about Horsfall's alleged misconduct at a Gerringong massage parlour.
She messaged a friend: "[Horsfall] did it to me at Christmas just gone, tried to slip finger in and lost my shit".
The woman later told police she could not convey her true anger towards Horsfall at the time of the alleged assault because she needed a lift from him the next day.
"That was the only way I could get to the airport," she said.
Defence barrister Rajiv Baldeo challenged this, noting phone records showed ongoing talks between the pair.
"You're calling him because nothing had happened that concerned you on [the January day] ... You were OK to go in the car with him because you were comfortable being around him. Agree?"
"Semi agree," the woman said. "I had no other way to get to the airport."
"Are you suggesting the only person you had on the South Coast to take you to the airport was Mr Horsfall ... you couldn't get a taxi?
The jury heard Horsfall has admitted to interfering with five women who attended a Gerringong massage parlour between November 2020 and March 2021. The jury will be given a document detailing those events at trial's end, and has been instructed to take this additional evidence into account when considering whether a pattern of behaviour has been established.
Meantime, Horsfall has pleaded not guilty to four charges.
The most serious of these - aggravated sexual assault - relates to allegations he digitally penetrated the physically disabled woman.
Two further counts of sexual assault, and one of sexual touching without consent, relate to a second woman. Horsfall denies those charges on grounds his interactions with the woman were consensual.
The second woman is expected to give evidence on Wednesday, when the trial continues before Judge Robert Sutherland.
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Angela Thompson
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Proudly Illawarra Mercury since 2008; these days covering crime and justice issues. UOW alum. Thrilled by the chase and sobered by some of the things I see and hear when I stand still - sometimes in the same day. ang.thompson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
