A Geelong nurse has faced the first day of a trial accusing him of raping a patient while the man was recovering from surgery at a private hospital.
A man claims that a nurse at a private hospital raped him during a bed bath while he was recovering from surgery on his deviated septum.
“He felt scared and helpless as he lay in a hospital bed with an IV in his arm and in pain from the operation,” prosecutor Richard Pirrie said during a jury trial at the Geelong County Court on Tuesday.
But Peng Yang, who is charged with rape and three counts of sexual assault, denies any sexual contact with the patient and claims he gave the man a body wash while carrying out his normal duties as a nurse.
A jury of twelve people will decide the fate of the 38-year-old.
A man claims a nurse at St John of God Hospital in Geelong raped him during a bed bath
The patient, who cannot be named for legal reasons, underwent two procedures at St John of God Hospital in Geelong in September 2019 and recovered with his wife by his side, Mr Pirrie told the jury.
Yang, who had been a nurse since 2017 and was studying to become a doctor, was working the afternoon shift and walked into the hospital room to offer the man an ice-cold pole and sandwiches.
The man’s wife asked if she could spend the night with her husband at the hospital, but Yang told her this was only possible if the patient was a minor.
After leaving around 10 p.m., Yang walked into the patient’s room with a sink, water and a towel.
He told the man he was going to give him a bath in his hospital bed, closed the curtain and took off the patient’s coat.
Mr Pirrie claimed Yang said to the patient: ‘You’re feeling horny, are you having sex with your wife?’ before being accused of sexually assaulting and raping the man while he lay in bed.
The man was in a ‘state of shock’ that evening and did not immediately report the alleged assault, according to the public prosecutor.
He was fired the next day and confided in a friend later that evening, who encouraged the man to call the police.
Yang told police the allegations were “ridiculous” and said he had asked the man for permission
Yang told police the allegations were “ridiculous” and said he asked permission before giving the man a bath.
His lawyer, top lawyer Dermot Dann, described the man’s claims as ‘extreme’.
He questioned the man’s credibility and reliability and the consistency and accuracy of his story.
“Mr. Yang has done nothing wrong at all, not only is he presumed innocent, he is innocent,” Mr. Dann told the jury.
“The only contact he made … was lawful contact made while this man was performing his duties as a nurse.”
The trial before Judge Greg Lyon continues.