A Sydney businessman who was accused of sexually assaulting two women he met on a fetish website has likened his case to a Shakespearean tragedy after his charges were dismissed.
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Liam Gordon Murphy, who used the pseudonym "The Wolf" on the online fetish forum, let out a huge sigh and hugged his lawyer after the committal decision on Wednesday.
Magistrate Christopher Halburd issued a non-publication order on his reasons for discharging Mr Murphy on all his charges. It follows a committal hearing earlier this year.
The 42-year-old had been accused of three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in 2015 against the first woman.
He was charged with sexual intercourse without consent in relation to the second woman.
Prosecutors could still proceed with the case by filing an ex officio indictment.
Mr Murphy outside Downing Centre Local Court thanked the magistrate for making what he said was "the right decision".
"It's not an easy political climate for him to be making decisions like that and I think he did a fantastic job taking into account all the evidence, not just the evidence the police wanted him to look at," Mr Murphy told reporters.
He described the case as "a real tragedy for everybody involved - Romeo and Juliet right? All are punished."
Mr Murphy's lawyer, Charles Waterstreet, in December last year told the court that the disputed incidents occurred in the context of a Bondage, Domination, Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) world.
Mr Waterstreet said the law applied but in an atmosphere where there was a "pantomime of pleasure and pain".
"We're dealing with players, men and women, who are seeking to explore the boundaries of their sexuality in this Game of Thrones atmosphere where pain is the doorway to sexual pleasure," Mr Waterstreet said.
The lawyer on Wednesday told reporters his client no longer had a profile on the fetish website.
Australian Associated Press
