Woman who alleges she was raped by the actor tells court why she didn’t report him to police for decades

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

A woman who alleges she was raped by the actor John Jarratt has told a Sydney jury she didn’t report him to the police for decades because she didn’t think she would be believed.

Jarratt has pleaded not guilty in the New South Wales district court to raping a former housemate in 1976 in a home they shared with his wife, Rosa Miano, and another woman.

Jarratt says the sex was consensual.

Under cross-examination from the actor’s barrister, Greg James QC, the woman on Tuesday said she didn’t say anything about the rape at the time because she didn’t want to damage Miano’s marriage.

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But when she heard they’d split up, the woman visited Miano at her parents’ home and told her about the rape, she said.

“I wanted her to feel better about the fact she had left him.”

James asked the alleged victim why she didn’t go to the police then, given she no longer needed to preserve the marriage.

“There is no rhyme or reason, however I didn’t think the police would believe me,” she said.

“I want to basically get it out there because he took something from me.

“I wanted to get the truth out there, what he is like.”

Before she went to police, she said she spoke to Sarah Monahan who was on the TV show Hey Dad! with Robert Hughes, who was later convicted of sexually abusing her.

Through her, she spoke to journalists Tracey Spicer and Lucy Cormack, but she denied James’ suggestion she had expected to receive publicity and notoriety.

He said she gave Monahan “the salacious details”, which were passed on to the journalists before she ever went to police.

“You thought you could manipulate the police into charging John Jarratt,” the QC said.

“No,” the woman replied.

The woman first went to police in 2017. The trial continues.