From mentorship to sexual assault — Perth woman airs allegations against ‘healer’ Joseph Luke Williams

A 40-year-old Perth woman who says she was seeking “mentorship” from self-proclaimed Aboriginal healer Joseph Luke Williams has aired her allegations of sexual assault on the fourth day of his trial. Williams, 58, is fighting 12 charges of sexual penetration without consent and two charges of indecent assault in a District Court trial in Albany, where his defence lawyer Bruno Illari is arguing all sexual acts were consensual. The State has alleged Mr Williams assaulted the women between 2010 and 2014 in Denmark, Stirling Range National Park, Perth and Broome, with some of the allegations involving penetration by rocks which he claimed had healing powers. State prosecutor Beau Sertorio alleges Mr Williams, who lives in Denmark, abused his cultural knowledge, manipulating women between the ages of 18 and 34 for his own sexual gratification. He obtained their consent by giving them the false impression the sexual acts were part of genuine Aboriginal rituals and could help heal their personal issues, such as fertility or child sexual abuse trauma, Mr Sertorio says. Appearing via video link in the Albany District Court today, the 40-year-old Perth woman described one-on-one “healing sessions” with Mr Williams, who she had viewed as a “mentor” The court was told during one session, Mr Williams instructed the woman to lay naked on her back. He gave her a smooth brown stone from “female elders” in Broome which she viewed as a “progression of their mentorship”, the woman said. “The stone was placed on my body and then it was inserted inside of me,” she said. The woman said she did not consent to the act and it was not explained by Mr Williams, but she did not question it because she did not want to disrespect him. On a later trip into bushland near Denmark, Mr Williams gave her a drink which contained a naturally produced hallucinogenic, she told the court. She said her “senses were sharpened” after drinking the liquid and she asked Mr Williams what native plants were used. But he “basically inferred you had to sleep with me to get that information”, she told the court. “That is when I questioned all the ethics and everything that had transpired between us,” she said. The woman said she had training in many “healing arts” and wanted to learn from Mr Williams. She said Mr Williams had told her he was a “medicine man” and the pair had gone on camping trips near the Stirling Range and Hay River to learn about Noongar culture and bush medicine. Defence counsel Bruno Illari suggested to the woman she had initiated sex at a campground in Mt Trio with the accused, which she denied. He also said the pair “quite often had sex” at her Perth home — a suggestion she denied, saying they had never had sexual intercourse. Earlier today, a 32-year-old woman took the stand, telling the court she had attended a number of “healing ceremonies” in the bush with Mr Williams and a group of women over a period of 18 months. The woman said she had been looking for help with fertility issues. She described a group session at Hay River, where women took turns laying in the river for a healing ritual with Mr Williams. The 32-year-old said before she entered the water, Mr Williams showed her a rock which he claimed was passed on from his ancestors and carried healing powers. She told the court she stripped naked and entered the water, where Mr Williams supported her while she floated in the river. Then, with no explanation or consent, he put the stone on her pubic bone before placing it onto her vagina, she said. “The rock vibrated like a vibrator and that was really alarming and uncomfortable,” the woman said. She said she did not say anything during or after the incident out of “fear” and “shame”. The trial continues.