THE second woman accusing a 50-year-old man of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager wept as she described to police officers how “vulnerable” she was.
She is one of three women who came forward independently to accuse Shay John Edward Bester after he was seperately convicted of raping a teenager in 2023.
The women do not know the details of each other’s allegations.
Mr Bester denies nine counts of rape, three counts of procuring an act of gross indecency, three of unlawful sexual intercourse and one of assault.
Jurors were shown a video-recorded interview with the second victim, who said she was under the age of consent when Mr Bester had sex with her.
“I realise now that I was a child,” she said, describing how he “carried and lifted [her] to the bathroom, shut the door and lifted [her] onto the floor”.
“It happened really, really fast,” she added and described feeling “disgusting” afterwards.
Mr Bester is said to have had sex with the woman at least three more times before she was old enough to consent.
The woman also said that Mr Bester had given her drugs, including cannabis and amphetamines.
She said she now suffers from “uncontrollable” flashbacks that “won’t go away”.
Opening the trial on Monday, Crown Advocate Emma Hollywood told jurors that the girl had lost trust in the authorities when she tried to report a previous indecent assault and was dismissed.
Mr Bester took advantage of her distrust and preyed on vulnerable teenagers, the prosecutor said.
The alleged victim said: “I was really lost – really, really, really lost.
“I just feel like I was in an extremely vulnerable position and things just escalated so fast.
“I was just so, so, so lonely and depressed. I had nowhere to go.”
The court previously heard from the first of the three alleged victims, who said Mr Bester had raped her and assaulted her.
Commissioner Andrew Oldland is presiding over the jury trial, which opened on Monday and is expected to last two weeks.
