State prosecutor mocks Joseph Luke Williams ‘fantasy’ claims in Albany sex assault trial

State prosecutor Beau Sertorio has grilled Joseph Luke Williams on day seven of his sexual assault trial, mocking the idea that six “very beautiful women” would want to have sex with him and suggesting his accounts of the events were “fantasies”. Mr Williams, 58, is fighting 12 charges of sexual penetration without consent and two charges of indecent assault in a District Court trial in Albany, with defence lawyer Bruno Illari arguing that the sexual acts were either consensual, did not happen in the way the women claim, or did not happen at all. 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 six women aged 18 to 34 for his own sexual gratification. On the stand yesterday, Mr Williams came under sustained pressure from Mr Sertorio as he queried his evidence. Responding to the evidence of the six alleged victims, he said that five of the women had never confided in him about their personal issues. At the time of the alleged incidents, Mr Williams weighed about 155kg and was between 16 and 31 years older than the women, Mr Sertorio told the court. Mr Sertorio told the accused it appeared his belief was that the women “couldn’t keep their hands off you”. “No, I’m not trying to say that,” Mr Williams said. “I wasn’t an attractive man physically but I gave those women the time of day their fellas didn’t.” Mr Williams described a situation where one of the women gave him a massage which resulted in an erection. “You are just making this up as you go along aren’t you?” Mr Sertorio said in response. On multiple occasions Mr Williams hesitated before answering. “It’s hard to keep track of the all lies you’ve told,” Mr Sertorio said. “No, it’s hard to keep track of the timeline,” Mr Williams responded. On Tuesday, under questioning by Mr Illari, Mr Williams told the jury his version of events and denied the assault allegations. He told the court he met the first woman to give evidence — the State’s lead witness — at an Earth Day event. After the event, the woman approached him and showed interest in Noongar culture and “wild bush medicines”, telling him she was having trouble conceiving, Mr Williams said. When asked by Mr Illari if he touched her vagina on one occasion, he said it was unintentional. Mr Williams told the court his hand slipped on to her vagina while he was massaging her with cooking oil on a rock in Stirling Range National Park. He said they had sex on that trip to the Stirling Range, telling the court it was instigated by both of them. Mr Williams denied saying he needed to have sex with the woman to help with her fertility issues. When questioned about the allegation that he rubbed semen on the woman on a Broome trip in November 2010, he said it happened after they agreed to masturbate. He admitted to rubbing semen on her body but said it was a joke about sun protection. “We both saw the funny side of it,” Mr Williams told the court. The woman did not object to his actions, he said. Mr Williams said the woman called him a “sex guru” after asking about sexual positions that could help her conceive with her FIFO-worker husband. When questioned by Mr Illari about another woman who was 18 years old at the time of the allegations, Mr Williams said the girl wanted to receive a “water nurture”. Floating the woman in Hay River, Mr Williams placed his left hand under her shoulders and his right hand at the base of her spine with a black stone resting on her tail bone, he told the court. Mr Williams said he never put a stone on her vagina or touched her vagina with his mouth or fingers. The trial continues.