Ballarat man denies raping teenager in Sebastopol backyard case

Lachlan Young appeared in the County Court and denied a rape allegation involving a 16-year-old girl at his neighbour’s Sebastopol residence on February 5, 2024. Prosecutor Andrew Buckland read excerpts from Snapchat exchanges in which the teenager questioned Young about his girlfriend and the alleged assault. Young’s defence counsel, Glenn Casement, maintained that the encounter involved consensual touching only and emphasized inconsistencies in the complainant’s statements, suggesting her credibility should be doubted.

The prosecution described the incident as forced intercourse after the girl initially agreed to meet in the backyard. Young responded to the teenager’s messages with denial and later blocked her, ending further contact. The case is being heard before Judge Caitlin English, with a jury of ten men and two women selected to decide the matter.