http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/2397228/Sex-consensual-Johns
From the Christchurch Press
The Christchurch woman at the centre of the Cronulla Sharks sex scandal identified Australian rugby league star Matthew Johns at the time. Johns went public on Australian television this week over his involvement in the 2002 incident.
The Press broke the story of alleged serious sexual misconduct by members of the Sharks team during their pre-season stay in Christchurch.
The woman, then 19 and a staff member of the Racecourse Hotel in Riccarton, claimed she had been sexually violated by a number of players on the night of Friday, February 15. The players were staying at the hotel.
After an investigation on both sides of the Tasman, Christchurch police said they would not lay charges against any Sharks player.
The Press interviewed the woman after that announcement.
Of the players with whom she had sex, the woman said: "It was with two of them. I wasn't friends with them, but I was friendly with them the night before."
Were they quite well-known? "Yup. Matthew Johns is quite well-known." Was he one of the two players? "Yes."
On legal advice, The Press did not publish any of the interview at the time. The woman attempted to get a copy of her witness statement from the police but she said she was refused when she revealed that it was to be given to The Press.
The paper understands she also talked to police about Johns' involvement.
Johns broke his silence this week after being approached by ABC television. A Four Corners programme, to be aired in Australia on Monday night, will explore the issue of footballers behaving badly after the sexual-assault charge against Manly league star Brett Stewart.
Four Corners interviewed the Christchurch woman recently, with her identity blacked out and her voice altered.
She says she has suffered psychologically as a result of the incident, which she described as degrading.
"There were lots of guys watching and two or three doing stuff to me," she says on the programme.
"I only remember one player definitely; it was Matthew Johns. He laughed and he joked and was very loud and boisterous."
The programme contacted Johns for his response on Monday morning, the night after he had been celebrating the Logie award triumph of The Footy Show.
Johns, who is employed by Channel Nine as a rugby league expert and is the frontman for the NRL's membership drive, revealed his involvement on Thursday night.
"I am very sorry for all the trauma and embarrassment this has caused for everyone, but particularly for my family," he said.
Johns said he had consensual sex with the woman and he was upset, particularly for his children, that the woman was making the claims again.
"It took us a long time to get through it and it pains me that they have to go through it again," he said.
"Police investigated the situation, the allegations, and there were no charges laid. This has been a cause of major embarrassment for a lot of people."
In her interview with The Press, the woman said she talked to some of the players when she was a waitress-kitchen hand at the Racecourse Hotel.
She bumped into the players at the Holy Grail in central Christchurch on the Thursday night (the night before the incident) and had drinks with them.
They wanted her to go back to the hotel with her that night, "but I didn't because I've got a boyfriend and I'm not dirty".
On the Friday two players waited for her to finish work.
"I kind of wanted to leave, but they said come back to our room for a talk or whatever. I walked behind them because I kind of didn't want to go back. But I didn't think anything bad would happen," she said.
"They, like, left the sliding door unlocked or open, with the curtain pulled and the bathroom window open and stuff, so the whole team came back and knew about it. They knew what was happening.
"They sidled in and crawled along the floor where I couldn't see them and all came in, and climbed in through the windows and stuff, and next thing I knew everyone was in there.
"They are saying, `We didn't let it happen and it wasn't planned'. It was so planned."
The woman said the incident lasted a couple of hours and there were other girls in other rooms, but she believed them to be prostitutes.
"I'm quite young [19]. When I went in there I was wearing a blue T-shirt and black three-quarter pants. I wasn't all s**tted up in, like, tights or whatever," she said.
"Matthew's married. They were the players, they started it off and they did lots of the main stuff, but then there were four other guys, five other guys ... who did heaps of gross other stuff and they're just as bad as those two.
"Other people were just standing around with no clothes on; so many people were just standing there with their pants off, with no clothes on, just watching like it was a show. Just getting off on the other guys.
"I was just stunned and shocked. I didn't help them do anything."
The woman said she had been told by police that the Sharks players were arguing it was consensual.
"If it was consented, they did nothing wrong. It was morally wrong, but not criminally wrong if I consented.
"It's all of them saying it was consented, against me," she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Long said there was no reason to reopen the file.
"A very thorough investigation was done at the time.
"All witnesses and people involved in the matter were spoken to and there is no evidence established in relation to the complaints that would support the matter being put before the court," he said.
"For whatever reason, there is some media interest now in Australia and there was at the time but nothing has changed at all and there is no reason to reinvestigate anything because it was all dealt with in 2002."
