A social media influencer has told a court she was ‘heartbroken’ and ‘very sad’ before she ‘did something very wrong’ by kissing a 14-year-old boy for 20 seconds.
The 46-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a child under 16.
On Friday, she told the court at Sydney’s Downing Center that she had been “very sad” and had been drinking when she approached the teenager one evening in mid-2021.
A social media influencer who kissed a 14-year-old boy has told a Sydney court she was ‘heartbroken’ and ‘very, very sad’ before the incident happened
The influencer said the pair were sitting “pretty close” together when the boy told her to “cheer up” before leaning in to kiss her on the neck.
“We started kissing on the lips,” she said.
‘He stopped and said ‘I love you’ very softly and then I felt his erection on my leg.’
Crown prosecutor Emma Blizard alleged the 46-year-old woman then removed the teenager’s clothes and had oral and penetrative sex with him.
However, the influencer denied to the jury that it went further than a ‘short’ kiss that lasted no longer than 20 seconds.
“It felt so uncomfortable and wrong that I was actually out of there,” she said.
“I stood up, I stopped it, and then I walked (away).”
The woman told the court she had drunk a bottle and a half of red wine that evening and had given ‘half a glass’ of wine to the 14-year-old.
The jury previously heard that the boy estimated she had drunk at least three bottles of wine in the afternoon and that she had danced for him.
The case heard at Downing Center Local Court (pictured) in Sydney on Friday involved the kiss lasting no longer than 20 seconds after the boy allegedly came up to her and told her to ‘cheer up’ before he leaned over to kiss her on the neck.
The court was shown a video of the influencer dancing, which was reportedly recorded two hours before she got into bed with the teenager.
In the video, the woman is seen rubbing her hands over her body and lifting her black top to reveal her stomach.
She pouts at the camera as she moves her hips back and forth to the music.
The court previously heard the 14-year-old described the dance as ‘weirdly sexual’.
When he approached the influencer four days later about the alleged assault, she told the jury she was “worried” and afraid of the consequences if she was overheard.
“I knew I had done something very wrong,” she said of the kiss.
At the teen’s insistence, the woman denied they had kissed, but admitted to the court Friday that she remembered the interaction.
When asked in court whether alcohol had affected her memory of that night, she stated: “I remember everything, pretty much.”
“What the hell were you thinking when you kissed him?” asked her lawyer Phillip Boulten SC.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
The woman did not have contact with the teenager again until mid-2022, when he called her out of the blue to discuss ‘the night of the kiss’.
‘I was immediately shocked or confused. It used to be that way,” she says.
Unbeknownst to the influencer, the conversation was legally recorded by police. Police had arranged for the teen to call her after he reported the sexual abuse allegations weeks earlier.
“I remember we had good sex,” the court heard the teenager ask her during the phone call.
“Well not really, I can’t remember,” she replied.
The woman told the court she drank up to a bottle and a half of red wine on the night of the alleged incident in Sydney (pictured)
The influencer clarified that she “absolutely remembered that I” did not have sex with the minor because “kissing is not sex.”
She admitted she had not been truthful and said she “pacified and neutralized” the teenager during the phone call out of fear he would go to authorities with the “very serious false accusation.”
Her lawyer Phillip Boulten SC told the jury that the prosecution must prove the assault took place and that the woman “does not have to prove her innocence”.
She will continue to testify before Judge Sarah Hopkins on Monday.