Alleged John Jarratt rape victim 'too scared' to report incident to police in 1970s, court told
A woman allegedly raped by actor John Jarratt in the 1970s has told a court she did not think police would believe her, and she has "no idea" why she did not report it to authorities at the time.
Jarratt, 66, is standing trial in the NSW District Court after he was charged last year with raping his female housemate, then aged 19, at the home they shared in the Sydney suburb of Randwick in 1976. He has pleaded not guilty.
The woman gave evidence on Monday that she woke to Jarratt pulling off her sheet and blanket at about 3am one night in September 1976. She said Jarratt tore off her T-shirt and underwear, pinned her down with his hand over her mouth, and raped her for a few minutes before he left.
On Tuesday, the second day of the trial, the woman was cross-examined by Jarratt's barrister Greg James, QC, about her recollection of the incident and a later conversation she had with Jarratt's wife Rosa Miano, who also lived in the Randwick house.
The woman said she contacted Ms Miano several years after the rape, at a time she had separated from Jarratt, and told her Jarratt had raped her.
"She said 'I don't believe you, get out of my house and don't come back'," the woman said.
The jury was previously told Jarratt and his wife have been married twice, from 1973 to 1986 and from 2016 until the present day.
Mr James said the woman was "concerned to incriminate Jarratt in rape to his wife, and there was no reason at all for you not to go to police".
"I was too scared to go to the police," the woman said. "I didn't think they'd believe me then, just back then.
Asked why she did not go to the police, the woman said: "I have no idea."
The woman reported the alleged assault to police in 2017.
Mr James suggested the woman contacted Ms Miano in a phone call and said Jarratt had cheated on her and had a one-night stand with the alleged victim.
"No," the woman said.
Asked what she was attempting to achieve by telling Ms Miano about the rape, the woman said she wanted Ms Miano to feel better about the fact she had left Jarratt.
"You were trying to encourage her to hold an adverse opinion of him?" Ms James asked.
"I just thought she should know," the woman said.
"If you thought somebody should know, why didn't you tell the police?" Mr James said.
"I just didn't think they believed me," the woman said.
She said she pushed the rape to the back of her mind because she didn't want to think about it.
"You put it to the back of your mind, for some 40 years?" Mr James said.
"No, I put it to the back of my mind temporarily," the woman said. "For the last 40 years I've thought about nothing else."
The trial continues.