Dann said his client had also been attacked on social media, despite the court order preventing him from being identified publicly.
“Those people who did attack him on social media, we say should step away from their keyboards and hang their heads in shame because they failed to adhere to or respect … the presumption of innocence,” he told the court.
“Thereafter anyone who wants to comment on this case, should do so on understanding that Mr Bruhn was presumed innocent … he should be regarded now and forever as someone who was 100 per cent innocent.”
Moya O’Brien, for Sinnott, said her client and his family had borne the brunt of publicity about the case while Bruhn’s name remained suppressed.
The court had already heard that the two men met the complainant at Geelong’s Alley Cat strip club at about 4am on February 5, 2023.
They then allegedly coaxed the woman into her car, before driving off and allegedly raping her in a suburban car park.
However, two witnesses gave evidence that the woman had lied about the alleged attack, telling the court they were told that the men had paid the woman for sexual services, but, after she demanded more money and they refused, she had reported the interaction as rape.
Sinnott and Bruhn were later charged with several counts of sexual assault, including rape, but have always denied the charges.
Magistrate Kimberley Swadesir ordered the chief commissioner pay both men’s costs which O’Brien told the court were “significant”.
Geelong listed Bruhn as having sustained a finger injury in February, and he missed the entire season. He remains contracted until the end of 2027.
