An Australian sheep farmer charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel was acquitted of the charge Friday – and plans to sue his accuser for $1 million
“All my prayers were answered,” said an emotional David Green, 29, surrounded by family members.
“I’m over the moon.”
He was cleared of rape, which carried up to 25 years in prison, but convicted of reckless endangerment for drunkenly tossing bottles off a 26th-floor balcony at the Affinia Hotel near Madison Square Garden. He faces up to seven years on that count.
Green, who was a tourist when he was arrested in 2005, said he was glad he could “finally tell my story.”
He denied having sex with Elizabeth Roarke, the 28-year-old Long Island speech therapist who said she was raped.
“We made out – then I was woken up in the morning by police officers,” Green said.
He insisted Roarke “concocted” the rape story because she feared her boyfriend would learn she and a pal picked up Green and two friends in a West Village bar and spent the night in a hotel with them.
Roarke could not be reached for comment Friday.
On the stand, she admitted she partied with Green and his buddies and downed at least six drinks, but claimed she was not drunk.
Instead, she testified, someone at the hotel drugged her and she woke up with Green “on top of me and having sex with me.”
Green’s lawyer, Ronald Fischetti, said toxicology tests showed no evidence she was drugged. He said his client plans to sue Roarke.
“The time has stopped for women to make false claims of rape and then walk away without any kind of punishment,” he said.
Fischetti said he hopes Green will get time served on the reckless endangerment charge.
Green, who jumped bail and fled to Australia only to be extradited and then jailed until the trial, was released on $500,000 bail after the verdict.
“I want a steak and a beer,” he said.
