A former Cricket Australia executive accused of sexually assaulting two sleeping men denies he had a sexual interest in them, a court has been told.
Timothy Whittaker, 38, took the stand at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday after prosecutors finished presenting their case on two charges of inappropriate sexual touching without consent.
Mr Whittaker, a former Cricket Australia communications head who spoke for the organisation during the Cape Town ball tampering scandal in 2018, has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegations.
Under cross-examination from prosecutor Sharn-Adelle Coombes, Mr Whittaker told the court he did not have a sexual interest in his alleged victims.
The court was told he “would never” touch a man sexually without consent.
Mr Whittaker stands accused of touching two colleagues’ penises in separate alleged incidents in 2016 and 2019.
Both men have claimed they allegedly woke up in Mr Whittaker’s bed, after nights of heavy drinking, to find him rubbing their penises.
Taking the stand on Monday, Mr Whittaker said he denied even being in bed with the men.
He said in the first alleged incident, in January 2016, he slept on the couch while the man and a friend took his bed, while in March 2019 he slept in his bed after the alleged victim fell asleep on his couch.
Earlier, the court was told the first complainant said he did not report the alleged incident until 2021 because he believed Mr Whittaker was asleep and gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He told human resources at Cricket Australia in December 2021 that he suspected Mr Whittaker was pretending to be asleep after hearing “rumours” of other complaints.
The second complainant told the court he had no memory of allegedly moving from Mr Whittaker’s couch to his bed following an end of season Cricket Australia party in March 2019.
He claimed when he woke up, Mr Whittaker allegedly rolled over and pretended to be asleep.
Prosecutor Sharn-Adelle Coombes told the court there was a “stark similarity” between the two allegations.
“The complainants are unknown to each other, there’s no suggestion they have spoken or have any knowledge of each other,” she said.
On Monday, magistrate Timothy Gattuso rejected a no-case submission by Mr Whittaker’s barrister, Dermot Dann KC, to find his client not guilty of the first allegation.
He had argued that, while the defence did not concede there was sexual touching, the prosecution had not proven Mr Whittaker was awake when the alleged act occurred.
“He (the alleged victim) said he believed for years he was asleep,” Mr Dann said.
“His ultimate position is, because he’s heard a rumour, he’s changed his mind.The defect goes to a central element of the case.”
Under Victorian law, prosecutors must prove a person accused of sexual offending made a conscious, voluntary and deliberate decision to engage in the conduct.
But Ms Coombes argued the evidence of the alleged victim was that Mr Whittaker allegedly had his hand down the complainant’s pants and made a “deliberate movement”.
The hearing continues.