Student was ‘aggressive’ and ‘pushed’ victim onto bed during alleged sexual assault

Charles Goodwin is alleged to have assaulted the victim during a party

2 years ago

TW: Contains mentions of rape and sexual assault

21-year-old student Charles Goodwin is currently on trial for the alleged rape and sexual assault of four fellow students. Goodwin has denied all charges.

He is facing 12 charges including six counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and two counts of assault by penetration, choking and assault. The alleged offences took place between January 2020 and May 2021.

Last week the first two alleged victims shared their testimonies to Liverpool Crown Court where one claimed she was raped and choked by Goodwin after meeting in a Manchester nightclub. The other victim claimed she was raped by Goodwin after a game of “Ring of Fire” where she claimed Goodwin picked her out to take shots. On Monday the third victim shared her testimony with the jury which is made up of seven men and five women. She claimed Goodwin encouraged her to “down drinks” before sexually assaulting her.

Yesterday the jury watched the fourth victim’s interview with police where she alleged she was sexually assaulted by Goodwin. She claimed to have met Goodwin at a student party where they were playing drinking games.

She told police she was “seven out of 10” on a scale of drunkenness and that Goodwin grabbed her face hard and kissed her during a dare game.

In the interview she said: “Being under the influence I just went along with it and kissed him back.”

During the game she claimed Goodwin kissed the girl sitting next to her and then half an hour later asked the alleged victim to come with him. She said: “He gestured and said ‘come with me’ and we went into a bedroom where we were kissing at first and I was ok with that.”

She went onto say his interest in her made her feel good and it was “an impulsive decision to follow him. I wasn’t thinking at all.”

The alleged victim claimed Goodwin told her to take her trousers off and pushed her onto the bed.

She said: “I took my trousers off….. he pushed me onto the bed, he manhandled me down. He was a stranger and we had almost no contact whatsoever. The fact his reaction was just to push me down felt quite odd.

“He used excess force and it freaked me out. It was in the way he did not acknowledge me.”

She described the way he handled her as “slightly aggressive” and it put her “on edge”. She said he then gave her oral sex which she didn’t enjoy.

She said: “I wasn’t enjoying it at all and I just remember lying there. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. My mind went, if I just zone out then it will be over. I didn’t struggle or say ‘no’, I just lay there.”

The alleged victim said she felt she couldn’t say anything to him as he was “aggressive”. He then allegedly got off the victim and said they should leave before people thought something was going on.

Goodwin allegedly left the woman alone in the room half undressed. The student whose room it was came in and realised what had happened. Goodwin and his friend were asked to leave. The woman said her friend went down to reception and reported the incident.

When cross examined the alleged victim said she had a boyfriend at the time and so felt uncomfortable going into the room with Goodwin.

She said her: “inhibitions were down and the party atmosphere encouraged me to go. There was no indication what would happen in that room.”

She went onto say he may have interpreted her taking her trousers off as her being ok with it.

At the time of the alleged assault Goodwin was on bail for previous alleged sexual offences. The woman denied knowing he was on bail at the time and learnt about the allegations after.

The trial continues.

Featured image credit before edits via Mikey/Creative Commons Licence