A video journalist has been acquitted of sexually assaulting two women and attacking a man at a Halloween party.
Charges against Jean Esingle were found not proven by Sheriff John Rafferty following a two-day trial in Dundee.
Sheriff Rafferty praised the male and female witnesses for their “good” evidence but said a reasonable doubt remained as to whether Esingle was guilty of the three charges he faced.
Esingle, 32, of Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, is described on their Facebook page as the “brain” behind online channel Rebreak News.
He had been accused of trying to get involved in a consensual three-way sex act involving two women and a man at the party.
They said he had initially filmed them on his phone.
Interruption was ‘a joke’
During evidence at Dundee Sheriff Court on Thursday, Esingle claimed to have touched one of the alleged victims on the back but only as he collected his jacket from the room in which the group were engaged in their threesome.
Asked by the prosecution if he had filmed the incident, Esingle said no, before adding: “This is absolutely crazy.
“If I had the video I would have shown it to my lawyer.
“I would have explained myself better.”
Questioned on whether his interruption of the consensual act was a joke, Esingle replied: “Yes. That’s the person I am, I like to make people laugh.”
Acquitted
Esingle denied two charges of sexual assault against the two women and another of assaulting the man by squeezing his neck until he struggled to breathe.
Acquitting him, Sheriff Rafferty said: “I did find during the court case the evidence brought was credible and reliable…but I cannot remove reasonable doubt.”
He said the charges were not proven and Esingle was allowed to go free.
Of the complainers the sheriff said: “In this case I have to say I found the evidence… to be good, complete, evidence.”
Strict court orders mean none of them can be identified.
Earlier evidence
On the first day of trial, last week, the male complainer told the court he feared he might “die” when he was allegedly attacked.
He responded: “What happened that night was as close as I could imagine to what it would be like to be raped.
“I did think I was going to die that night.
“I’m lucky to have never experienced sexual assault, as I’m a male.”
He said Esingle had approached them “with his penis out”.
One of the female witnesses said: “I froze up. (The male complainer) recognised I was distressed.
“Esingle was behind me. (The man) told him to stop and it wasn’t happening.
“Esingle then progressed to shouting and told (the man) he could ‘do what he wants’ and then he grabbed (the man) by the throat.”
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