Former NSW minister Milton Orkopoulos could have paid younger males to remain quiet about consensual sexual relationships, not for allegedly abusing them as youngsters, his barrister has advised a jury.
The then-MP for Swansea had a popularity to guard and would have good cause for not wanting it revealed he was bisexual or took medication, Paul Johnson advised jurors on Friday.
Orkopoulos, 65, has denied any wrongdoing, pleading not responsible to 28 prices, together with sexual offenses in opposition to 4 underage boys he allegedly equipped medication to over a decade, ending in 2003.
He has additionally been accused of perverting the course of justice by asking one complainant to retract an allegation.
That man says he was touched on the genitals after which watched bare within the bathe whereas on vacation at Seal Rocks a while between 1993 and 1995.
Orkopoulos’ barrister Paul Johnson advised the jury that the person is an “unreliable storyteller” with a capability to “conjure up” info within the witness field that he’d by no means talked about earlier than.
“There isn’t any doubt this story has modified considerably,” Mr Johnson stated on Friday.
The doc he claims to have signed may have been to handle a court docket order the jury has been advised about, which he would have needed modified, Mr Johnson stated.
“For all we all know, if this doc truly exists, slightly than sitting at (Orkopoulos’) solicitor’s workplace, possibly it is sitting within the bowels of (a court docket),” he stated.
“There’s additionally no certainty on what this doc truly stated.”
Witnesses, together with the person who says he signed it, didn’t learn it.
Even when it was retracting an allegation, the allegation at the moment was one thing “which you may assume is a bit off, however is definitely not against the law,” Mr Johnson advised the jury.
Crown prosecutor Cate Dodds stated on Thursday Orkopoulos preyed on boys like a “wolf in sheep’s clothes”, giving them medication and sexually assaulting them.
He was motivated by sexual need for younger boys, appearing on these needs opportunistically, she stated.
Proof from three different complainants, together with one boy who was allegedly injected with heroin earlier than being sexually assaulted in Orkopoulos’ automotive, was relied on to point out the previous MP had an inclination to behave in a specific means.
Mr Johnson highlighted inconsistencies in that tendency proof on Friday, questioning the timing when issues have been alleged to have occurred.
“There is not an enormous contest about what occurred between them, slightly once they met,” Mr Johnson stated.
Orkopoulos stated he had sexual relations with one in every of them, however not till they have been above the age of consent, Mr Johnson reminded the jury.
Contact continued till he was about 22, Mr Johnson stated.
Funds the Crown alleged have been makes an attempt to purchase a sexual assault survivor’s silence have been occasionally paid, typically lower than $100, and well-documented, Mr Johnson stated.
If Orkopoulos was paying for silence it might be as a result of he had an grownup sexual affair with one other man he consumed medication with, Mr Johnson stated.
“Would not he nonetheless wish to maintain {that a} secret?
“He is married. He is a public determine whose popularity is the whole lot,” he stated.
Orkopoulos additionally didn’t try to maintain the funds secret.
“They have been all documented,” Mr Johnson stated.
He stated complainants, who have been younger males however nonetheless over the age of consent, may have been embarrassed and ashamed they “did homosexual stuff with” Orkopoulos and added to their tales over time to position blame on him.
Mr Johnson advised on Thursday there was a monetary incentive for reviews made to the police in 2020.
