An aged care intruder has denied raping a 76-year-old woman, saying she pulled him onto her bed and held him in a bear hug after discovering him in her room.
Hayden Carl Skinner, 31, is accused of sexually assaulting the elderly woman during a burglary in the early hours of New Year's Day 2024.
Giving evidence during a judge-alone trial on Monday, he said he had been looking for valuables to steal in her Coffs Harbour aged care home, fearing he would be assaulted over a drug debt.
Scaling the northern NSW facility's fence and entering the room through an unlocked sliding door, he crawled on his hands and knees while the 76-year-old slept in her bed, he said.
His sweaty hand touched a "spongy" item of clothing on the floor before she woke up and threatened him, Skinner told District Court Judge Michael McHugh.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" she allegedly said.
As he was standing up to flee, she grabbed him by the shirt.
"No you don’t, you’re not getting away with this," he testified the elderly woman said.
She then used her body weight to fall backwards and pull him down, he told the court.
“I caught her and shifted the way she fell toward the bed so she didn't fall onto any drawers and hurt herself,” Skinner said.
The pair struggled on the bed with the woman holding Skinner in a bear hug as he was hunched over her.
After he partially freed himself, the 76-year-old grabbed him by the genitals, before reaching up and taking hold of his hair, he testified.
With the woman's legs wrapped around his waist, he claims he grabbed her by the inner thighs trying to push them apart and get free.
He said he eventually broke away from the 76-year-old before running from the room.
"Did you attempt to have sex with her?" public defender Peter Pearsall asked.
“No," the 31-year-old replied.
Skinner said he did not notice whether the elderly woman was wearing pants but he could see her legs during the struggle.
Earlier in the trial, Judge McHugh heard a registered nurse found the distressed woman half-naked, screaming and trying to get into another resident's room after the alleged rape.
The woman said her rapist was wearing jeans and had an earring.
But CCTV footage played to the court showed Skinner wearing a T-shirt and board shorts before and after the incident.
He testified on Monday he had not recently worn an earring despite getting his ears pierced when he was a child.
Skinner, who has pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault, is accused of removing her pants, underwear and incontinence pad before sexually assaulting her.
His DNA was found on the woman's pants which police located on the floor near her bed, the Crown argues.
It has conceded the woman - who has since passed away due to unrelated causes - had exhibited some odd behaviour and a "racial attitude", and was an unreliable witness.
The trial continues.
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National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
