A woman allegedly raped by a detective as a teen has told a court she invited him to see her strip at a men’s club to maintain a “little bit of control over the situation” while he begged for explicit pictures and sexual favours.
Glen Coleman is on trial accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman from March to May 2022 and abusing his position in the New South Wales police force.
Under cross-examination on Wednesday, the complainant, who cannot be legally named, said there was a valid reason to ask Coleman to the Sydney strip club where she worked.
“He kept asking me for these things ... and I was scared that he wouldn’t help,” she told jurors at Penrith district court.
“So I tried to get a little bit of control over the situation that was happening.
“That’s the only reason I told him to go to the strip club.”
The sex crimes detective had, at that stage, messaged her asking for explicit photographs and sexual favours, she told the court.
Coleman’s barrister Joel Brook questioned why she had brought up the topic of stripping and also potential work as an escort at all.
“Inviting him to the strip club, it had nothing to do with any of the investigations he was doing for you, did it?” he asked.
“No,” she replied.
The woman had asked the detective for help after her second cousin allegedly threatened to share naked photos of her online and also raised concerns about an ex-boyfriend’s behaviour.
She admitted in court that she had handed over the photos in exchange for money.
The barrister also claimed there were discrepancies in the woman’s allegations, including that his client had a “wet patch” on his trousers during a March 2022 interview at the police station.
“I suggest you’re making that up,” he said.
“No, I’m not,” she replied.
Earlier in the day under questioning by crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale, the woman broke down in tears as she saw an explicit photograph allegedly sent to her by Coleman on the Snapchat messaging app in May 2022.
“I was sitting right next to my nan on the couch and he’s bothering me asking me for photos,” she told a jury at Penrith district court.
“He sent me a photo of him lying in his bed with his dick in his hand.”
The woman said she responded with a photo of her naked tattooed back taken while she was in the shower in an attempt to stop the detective harassing her.
Coleman has been accused of sexually abusing the teen complainant at Windsor police station and at two parks in western Sydney.
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The 57-year-old has pleaded not guilty to one count of abusing his position of public office to procure the woman for his own sexual gratification, three of sexual intercourse without consent and six of sexual touching without consent.
His barrister Joel Brook said his client did not deny he had sex with the woman at the police station but rejected allegations it was not consensual.
On Wednesday, the young woman said she felt forced into having sex with Coleman in an interview room.
Jurors heard she grabbed $70 the detective had put on the table before she left because she was “pissed off”.
“I thought you know what, shame on you, I will take the $70 because you made me do it,” she said.
Coleman previously offered the woman $500 for sex or $400 for a lapdance after finding out the complainant had gone for an interview at a Sydney strip club, the court heard.
The woman had initially approached the detective for help after her cousin threatened to share naked photos of her online.
Later, she also told him she had concerns about her boyfriend’s behaviour.
The woman finally confided in two friends in May 2022 about what allegedly happened with the officer, the jury was told.
She showed them a Snapchat message sent by Coleman offering $600 for sex at a hotel and asking her to wear a lacy G-string.
“I realised that I couldn’t get out of it much longer and I felt really backed into a corner,” she said.
Coleman was arrested in May 2022 and was dismissed from the NSW police force in September that year.