The Lawyer Who Inspired 'Rake' Has Been Accused of Sexual Harassment

Charles Waterstreet, the well-known barrister who has probably inspired a thousand private schoolboys to pursue an LLB at the University of Sydney, has been accused of sexual harassment by a young law student who briefly worked at his chambers. Waterstreet has been at the centre of a number of high profile criminal cases, and the ABC show Rake is based on his life.

As part of a detailed investigation into Waterstreet’s conduct, the New Matilda has alleged that the lawyer showed 21-year-old University of Sydney law student Tina Huang a video of himself receiving a handjob from two sex workers. Huang was invited by Waterstreet to interview for a paralegal position, which she saw advertised on a university jobs site.

“A naked sex worker sits astride prominent Sydney lawyer Charles Waterstreet as a second sex worker kneels by her side. The cameraphone focuses on the two women’s faces and naked breasts, before panning down to reveal Mr Waterstreet’s penis being masturbated by one of the women,” the New Matilda describes, having obtained a copy of the video.

During Huang’s interview, Waterstreet allegedly “described how he liked to go to sex parties and enjoyed having women snort cocaine off his body, before revealing he preferred to hire ‘pretty young things’ to work with him.” He also allegedly referred to her using racist terms, calling her a “boat person” and a “tiger mother”.

Huang originally accused Waterstreet of harassment in a letter published by the New Matilda in late October, which describes in upsetting detail her experiences with the barrister during the job interview and later when she returned to his chambers to work.

While at first she once looked up to the lawyer as an inspirational figure, she quickly became disillusioned with his inappropriate conduct and quit the paralegal position. Other women have since come forward to confirm that Waterstreet regularly displayed inappropriate sexual behaviour in the office.

“However imperfectly, I wanted to communicate a sense of what is possible in calling out men like this,” Huang wrote in her open letter.

“They think they are liberating us—by giving us work and good pay—but we are liberated only to be oppressed in other ways.”

Waterstreet, who is also a columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, has denied all the allegations of misconduct in a statement published by the paper.

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