Relative of Robert Xie tells court he sexually assaulted her

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/11/robert-xies-alleged-sexual-assaults-described-to-court

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A young female relative has told how Robert Xie’s “uncomfortable” behaviour towards her allegedly intensified into regular sexual assaults after the Lin family murders.

Xie is accused of creeping into his brother-in-law Min “Norman” Lin’s home in Sydney’s north-west in the early hours of 18 July, 2009 and killing him, Lin’s wife Lily Lin, their young sons Henry and Terry and Lily’s sister, Irene Lin, with a hammer-like weapon.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Giving evidence via closed circuit television on Thursday, the relative, who cannot be named, told his trial that in the years leading up to the murders there had been a number of “uncomfortable” moments with Xie.

In one incident at Xie’s family home, she said they were sitting on the couch when he began rubbing his hands up and down her thigh.

When she stood up, he repeated this action on her torso while taking “longer breaths”.

“I felt it wasn’t very right but I wasn’t sure what to think,” she said.

After the murders, she told the court that his behaviour intensified.

The first time he allegedly sexually abused her, during one night at his home, she thought she had “dreamt it”.

“It didn’t seem real ... It didn’t seem in line with his character,” she said. “But when it happened again, I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

The relative continued: “It would stop for two weeks or three and I would think, ‘Oh God, it’s over’... but then it would start again.” She said she did not tell anyone about it at the time.

“I think I just felt really embarrassed,” she explained.

The crown has previously alleged Xie’s “sexual desire” for a female relative was one of three motives that drove him to carry out the brutal murders.

The trial continues.