James William Rao, 60, stands trial in the Perth District Court accused of sexually abusing two teenagers, who worked as chamois girls at his family's car wash in Edgewater in The now year-old women both accused Rao of inappropriately touching them and one woman has testified he forced her to give him oral sex at his Joondalup home and held her there against her will.
The other woman yesterday told the court how she had called Rao "Hugh Hefner" when he asked her to be his girlfriend. Rao has denied the allegations but has already pleaded guilty to 30 sexual assault charges that involved nine of his former employees. One of those employees was a year-old girl who yesterday testified Rao had become "grumpy" when she tried to refuse his advances.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 15 years old when Rao approached her with the offer of work while she was at the car wash with a male friend. She said although her friend also wanted work, Rao told her he "only wanted girls working there". She said he made her quit her work with at a fast food restaurant because he promised her extra money at the car wash.
After she quit, he showed her photographs of other girls he employed who were "part of the family". One girl was photographed in a bikini at the beach, she said. On another day he took her up to the roof of the car wash to show her where the girls liked to sunbathe and as he did so, he roped off a cage door that prevented her getting down the ladder, she testified. She said he laid down a mattress kept on the roof and took her clothes off. He said the other girls did it and I was meant to be part of the family," she said.
After he had sex with her he went to buy her cigarettes and she got her mother to collect her. She said she did not intend going back to work but she lived with her boyfriend and brothers, after their mother moved out, and was responsible for paying the rent. I had to go back because I didn't have the job at maccas [any more]," she said. I thought if it happened once it would never happen again.
