- Geelong star and friend cleared over alleged February 2023 incident
Prosecutors have dropped all charges against Geelong AFL player Tanner Bruhn and his co-accused after alleging they raped a woman in a car.
Bruhn and Patrick Sinnott faced Geelong Magistrates Court on Tuesday where the rape and intentional sexual touching charges were formally withdrawn.
Bruhn’s identity was previously suppressed, but his barrister asked for the order to be lifted following the prosecution’s application.
Both men have always maintained their innocence.
Prosecutors had alleged Bruhn and Sinnott raped the woman in the early hours of February 5, 2023, after attending a Geelong strip club, southwest of Melbourne.
They alleged the two men left the club with the complainant in her car and the assault happened in a Dan Murphy’s car park in the nearby suburb of Belmont.
Geelong midfielder Tanner Bruhn has been cleared of sexual assault charges following a key witness’s confession
Bruhn is expected to resume training with Geelong after spending a year sidelined by the sexual assault claims
CCTV footage showed the woman leaving the strip club with the men at 4.17am and then her car arriving at the car park at 4.21am.
The alleged rape was not captured on the vision, but the woman’s vehicle was seen leaving the area about 5am.
Bruhn’s barrister Dermot Dann KC told the court the woman had since admitted she lied and the case was clearly a ‘horrible stain on the criminal justice system’.
‘(Bruhn) should be regarded now and forever as someone who was 100 per cent innocent,’ Mr Dann said on Tuesday.
Bruhn watched Tuesday’s hearing via video link, while Sinnott fronted the court in person.
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