Jury takes less than two hours to declare Geraldton man David Wayne Tencate not guilty of rape

A jury has acquitted a Geraldton man of sexually assaulting his friend’s daughter while she was sleeping at his house. David Wayne Tencate was found not guilty of two counts of sexual penetration without consent in a WA District Court on Friday after a three-day trial. The woman who made the allegations — who was 16 years old at the time — last week told the court she went to Mr Tencate’s house to “calm down” after an argument she had with her mother one evening several years ago. She had not initially planned to stay overnight, but said Mr Tencate suggested she get some rest in his double bed while he slept on the couch in the lounge room. She said she drifted off but woke “to him slowly taking off (her) shorts and underwear”. She said she attempted to push Mr Tencate off her as he twice sexually assaulted her while holding a hand over her mouth and eyes. “I was trying to push on his shoulders to get him off but he is a lot bigger than I am so it was hard,” she told the trial. But defence lawyer Oliver Paxman said Mr Tencate claimed the incident “simply did not occur, consensually or otherwise”. Mr Paxman said “crucial parts” of the claimant’s evidence were “lies” and were not consistent with what she had told police or the prosecution on other occasions. There were many times during cross-examination or when she was giving evidence that the woman could not answer the questions being asked, Mr Paxman said. “She said she ‘couldn’t remember’ 87 times in total (during the trial),” he said. “This is not the makings of a credible and reliable witness.” State prosecutor David McCallum conceded the woman was “not always a perfect witness” but said she gave a “reliable and consistent account about the circumstances of the allegations”. After under two hours of deliberating, the jury returned a not guilty verdict.