Maryborough Harley rider denies sexual assault

A MARYBOROUGH man who allegedly took a woman for a ride on his motorbike and indecently assaulted her at locations along the way appeared before a jury in a County Court yesterday.The County Court in Ballarat heard Paul Lohmann, 39, went to the woman's house on his Harley Davidson motorbike after she contacted him to help her with landscaping works on August 26, 2007.Crown prosecutor Bob Johnson told the court the pair got talking and Lohmann suggested going for a ride on the motorbike.He said they rode to Tullaroop Reservoir, near Carisbrook, where the alleged offending occurred."They got back on the motorbike and again he decided to go off track and stopped the bike," Mr Johnson said.He said the woman did not consent to Lohmann's actions and she told a friend what had occurred after he took her home and they went to the police.Mr Johnson said the woman was scared during the alleged offending and suffered bruising.The court heard Lohmann and the woman had previously been in a relationship before the alleged offending, but it ended.Defence barrister Jane Dixon SC said the woman had told her client she would like to go for a ride.She told the court that, during the 80-minute motorbike ride there was some contact between her client and the woman, and a love bite on the woman's neck, but sex was not on Lohmann's agenda."Paul Lohmann had a plan to go to Melbourne that night ... so he had to be back at a certain time," Ms Dixon said.She said the woman made up the allegations and Lohmann was dumbfounded by them when interviewed three days after the alleged incident.Lohmann is pleading not guilty to six counts of indecent assault and one count of digital rape.The trial will continue today.