Australian farmer found guilty of raping Belgian tourist
Australian media report that that an Australian farmer has been found guilty of the kidnap and rape of a 24-year-old Belgian tourist. The man from Meningie in South Australia held his victim captive in an old pig sty for two days. She was chained to the wall and raped repeatedly.
54-year-old Gene Charles Bristow stood trial for kidnap, rape and sexual assault. After three hours of deliberations the jury at the District Court in Adelaide found him guilty of all three charges.
The offences date back to February 2017. The young Belgian woman had placed an advertisement to find work soon a farm. Gene Charles Bristow replied to the advertisement under a false name. He brought to woman from where she was staying in Murray Bridge, South Australia to his farm in Meningie. However, rather than giving her work and accomodation, he locked her up in a disused pig sty hundreds of meters from the farmhouse where he lived with his family. He hands and feet were chained and she was made to undress. He returned to the sty several times to sexually abuse and rape his victim.
She was eventually able to contact her family, friends and the police. When police launched search operation the farmer took his victim to Murray Bridge where he checked her into a hotel.
Mr Bristow denied the charged, saying that the woman had left the farm because she couldn’t handle the harsh working conditions. Sentence will be passed later.