The mother of a 14-year-old girl broke down in tears as she described the “look of horror” on her daughter’s face after a 19-year-old rugby player allegedly forced her to perform sex acts.
Connor Lind, now 23, is on trial at Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after he denied performing sexual acts on a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl.
He has pleaded not guilty to four charges of sexual intercourse with a child and one charge of intentional sexual contact with a child.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, the rugby player was 19 years old when he had anal, oral and digital sex with the 14-year-old girl.
On Tuesday, the girl’s mother wept as she told Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court she felt “sick” after hearing about the alleged sex acts.
She said her 14-year-old daughter initially denied anything physical had happened between her and Lind, but later told her parents they had exchanged “inappropriate photos.”
“I was upset, angry and irritated with myself because there were probably signs before that I hadn’t seen,” the mother told the court.
When her mother “pressured” her the next evening, the 14-year-old said Lind had digitally penetrated her while he was sitting on his parents’ couch.
Connor Lind, now 23, is on trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after he denied engaging in sexual acts with a 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl.
“I asked her if she had done anything else and she said, ‘Mum, I don’t believe in sex before marriage, but I did give Connor oral sex to keep him interested,’” her mother told the court.
She then questioned her daughter about the accusation that Lind had seduced her into anal sex, to which the teenager again replied that she “didn’t believe in sex before marriage.”
“I didn’t ask further, but I wasn’t sure if I was told everything that night,” her mother said.
A few days later, she told the court that she looked her daughter in the eye and asked if she knew that “anal sex is considered sex.”
“The look of horror on her face was… I’ll never forget it,” her mother said through tears.
She said the 14-year-old told her that Lind had had anal sex with her, but that she didn’t like it and asked him not to do it again.
“She asked me, ‘Does this mean I’m not a virgin anymore?’” her mother recalled, tears in her eyes.
The court was told that when Lind discovered her parents were aware of their alleged interactions, he asked the 14-year-old girl to delete the messages they had exchanged.
On Tuesday, the jury also heard from a witness who described seeing Lind digitally penetrate the underage girl on his parents’ couch during a sleepover.
She was questioned about whether her view of the alleged sex act was obstructed by the couple’s knees as they spooned, but she continued to insist she could see his fingers “inside” the teenager’s vagina.
Lind received support from his loved ones in court
Lind’s lawyer Lisa-Claire Hutchinson noted that she had not described the cast Lind was wearing on her arm and questioned whether her eyesight was “at its best” at the time.
“I know what I saw,” the witness replied.
She told the court she only needs glasses for long distances and that her eyesight was “fine for the time when (the alleged sexual act) was so close”.
The witness texted her mother, saying, “He’s got his hands down her pants” and “I hear shit.”
“I felt ashamed that this was happening next to me,” she told the jury.
Lind denies having had sexual contact with the 14-year-old girl or with a 15-year-old girl with whom he allegedly performed sexual acts in his car.
The 15-year-old girl previously told the jury that he kissed her and put his hand down her pants to touch her vagina.
She said Lind, who was 20 at the time, offered to pull down her underwear and asked for “one lick.”
The Public Prosecution Service claims that the rugby player was 19 years old when he had anal, oral and digital sex with the 14-year-old girl
The teen recalled saying “no” more than once, but told police it “just kept going.”
Her friend testified that later that night the teen told her she was “seeing” Lind and showed her “a hickey on her chest” as evidence.
The 15-year-old girl’s mood was “just normal, probably a little sad” when she passed on the information, her friend said.
Lind was arrested in August 2021 and does not deny knowing the girls were 14 and 15 years old at the time.
Ms Hutchinson argued that her client was a promising rugby player and university student at the time and that he had ‘every reason to uphold the law’.
The trial continues on Thursday before Judge John Pickering.
