Rugby star found guilty of assaulting woman

IANS

Sydney, Dec 11: Australian rugby league star Blake Ferguson has been found guilty of indecently assaulting a young woman at a nightclub here.

Ferguson has been found guilty of assaulting the 24-year-old woman by touching her private parts at the 2230 Bar and Restaurant June 16, reports Xihua.

Ferguson had pleaded not guilty, and said he touched the upper thigh of the woman in a case of mistaken identity.

He said he had mistaken the girl for another woman he had kissed earlier that night.

But Magistrate Jacqueline Trad rejected Ferguson’s story, saying he had not taken steps to gain the woman’s consent.

Trad told the Sutherland Local Court Wednesday that the CCTV footage showed the victim “distressed and upset” and supported her version of events. Ferguson will be sentenced early in 2014.