THE trial of a man accused of raping a woman he met on Facebook began in the Royal Court yesterday.
Luis Filipe Algarvio Pestana allegedly attacked the woman in her home after a night out last year.
The 40-year-old denies rape and sexual penetration without consent.
Jurors were shown a video recording of an interview the woman gave to the police ten days after the alleged attack.
She said that after meeting via Facebook, they had exchanged numerous friendly messages and had agreed to meet in a pub in St Helier.
Afterwards they went back to the woman’s house and had consensual sex.
But she claimed that he later attempted a sex act that she objected to, and when she pushed him away his attitude changed and he became more aggressive, choking her, pulling her hair and slapping her.
She said: ‘It was getting painful. It felt like he was punching me in the womb again and again. It was worse than the worst period pain.
‘I said: “Stop,” but he kept going.
‘I had bruising to my abdomen and thighs. My neck was sore. It was hard to swallow.’
Opening the case for the prosecution, Crown Advocate Simon Thomas said: ‘The sex was consensual at first but there came a time when things changed.
‘It went far beyond what the woman was comfortable with. She told the defendant as much on several occasions but he carried on regardless.
‘There can be no question of the defendant having reasonable belief that she was consenting despite her pleas to stop.’
Advocate Thomas added that a week later the woman broke down in tears and reported the incident to the police. An examination at Dewberry House Sexual Assault Referral Centre discovered internal and external injuries, the court heard.
At the time of the police interview the woman was still feeling the effects of the injuries, jurors were told.
The trial is expected to last three more days.
