Adam Charles Lusk: Accused rapist claims he believed alleged victim consented because they had sex before

The Perth father accused of recording himself raping multiple women that he had allegedly drugged claims he believed one of his alleged victims was consenting because they had sex before. Adam Charles Lusk told the WA District Court that he would not have had sex with the woman, let alone record the encounter if he didn’t believe she was a willing participant. The civil engineer conceded during his second day of evidence that after watching the video in the “cold hard light of day in the courtroom” that his “perception” of what took place that night might have been affected by the high level of cocaine that was in his system. The 45-year-old is on trial accused of 100 offences, including multiple counts of rape concerning 13 women — including four teenage girls — whom he met on various dating apps or socially between April 2020 and January 2022. He is also accused of spiking their drinks, rendering them unconscious. The trial was told Mr Lusk and the woman met on Bumble and carried out a casual sexual relationship during which, he claimed, they drank alcohol, took drugs such as cocaine and MDMA and used a variety of sex toys. On the night in question, he claimed the pair had consensual sex four times with “breaks” in between and that she had taken MDMA while he had cocaine. The court was told he also consumed Xanax so he could sleep. Mr Lusk testified at the time he made the videos, the woman was “rolling” — the term used to describe the euphoric state of being on MDMA — and that he had another line of cocaine with the court shown a snippet on the video showing his “cocaine face”. When asked if he believed she was consenting in the video, he said he did and that he did not think she had been stupefied. However, when asked what state the woman was in after seeing the video, Mr Lusk replied: “After seeing the videos it is somewhat different to what I had remembered in my mind. “What I had understood her state to be in, she was in, the term is ‘rolling’ when you were in your own zone enjoying the sensations and the feelings yourself.” When asked if he believed his high level of intoxication may have affected his perception of what was taking place at the time, Mr Lusk responded: “I definitely would not have been in that position if I hadn’t been as intoxicated as I was.” With regards to his fourth alleged victim, Mr Lusk told the court the pair met on Hinge or Bumble and had sex about 20 times throughout their casual relationship. And regarding the night the woman claims Mr Lusk raped her, the court was told he allegedly gave her ketamine and cocaine despite knowing she had to work the next day. When asked if he thought the woman was consenting, Mr Lusk said he did, adding he also believed she wouldn’t mind him filming their encounter because he had recorded some before. He also claimed his intention behind the video was so he could tease her about it later. “My intention was I was going to tease her about it later on because for the first time ever I managed to wear her out before she wore me out,” he said. The trial continues. Sexual Assault Resource Centre 1800 199 88