A teenage girl led police to her accused rapist by using the ‘Find My iPhone’ app to locate her mobile weeks after she was allegedly attacked and robbed.
The girl reported being dragged into bushes and raped one evening late last year while walking home near Arrawarra Beach on the NSW mid-north coast.
Her phone, as well as clothing and jewellery, were stolen during the alleged incident, according to police statements made in court.
Detectives from the Coffs-Clarence district arrested 34-year-old Samoan fruit picker Vitale Tiole two days later and charged him over the alleged November 10 rape.
A teenager helped lead police to her accused rapist by using the ‘Find My iPhone ‘ app to locate her mobile weeks after she was allegedly attacked and robbed. Fruit picker Vitale Tiole (above) had previously been wrongly accused of the alleged rape
Mr Tiole spent two months in custody before all charges were withdrawn when police arrested another Samoan fruit picker, Agaalofa Agaalofa, over the alleged sexual assault.
Daily Mail can reveal the teenager used the ‘Find My iPhone’ app in the days and weeks following her alleged rape but picked up no signal from her mobile phone.
Then, sometime in January, the phone-finding function indicated the teen’s handset was in the Grafton area, about 50km north-west of Arrawarra, according to a source close to the investigation.
It is understood the mother of the alleged rape victim told police her daughter had located the mobile and they acted on that information.
The alleged victim had completed a rape kit after the alleged assault and detectives were awaiting the results of DNA testing while Mr Tiole was in jail on remand.
The girl reported being dragged into bushes and raped one evening late last year while walking home near Arrawarra Beach on the NSW mid-north coast. Fruit pickers are pictured near Arrawarra
A court has heard investigators tracked the teenager’s phone to where Agaalofa was staying near Grafton and on January 16 arrested the 25-year-old.
Agaalofa appeared at Coffs Harbour Local Court the next day charged with one count of larceny and his unconditional bail conditions were continued.
The same court later heard Mr Tiole had been assaulted by other inmates while being held at the maximum security Clarence Correctional Centre before he was granted on January 10.
The source told Daily Mail that police sought a DNA sample from Agaalofa and on January 30 they arrested him again.
Agaalofa was apprehended at Dirty Creek, about 12km north-east of Arrawarra, and this time was charged with aggravated sexual assault – deprive liberty, as well as aggravated robbery.
When he faced a magistrate the next day police prosecutor Jack Chaffey said the results of DNA testing had ‘significantly changed’ the direction of the investigation.
Agaalofa (above) was apprehended at Dirty Creek, about 12km north-east of Arrawarra, and charged with aggravated sexual assault – deprive liberty, as well as aggravated robbery
Sergeant Chaffey told the court the teenager’s mobile phone had been taken during her alleged sexual assault and tracked to Agaalofa’s residence.
Agaalofa’s DNA matched evidence gathered from the rape kit completed by the teenager, Sergeant Chaffey told the court.
The court also heard a female DNA profile had been detected on clothing found at Agaalofa’s accommodation and identified by the alleged victim as hers.
Sergeant Chaffey said Agaalofa had committed multiple ‘heinous’ sext acts against the teenager during a protracted assault, the ABC reported.
‘The [alleged] victim made efforts to fight back and call for assistance, but was physically overpowered,’ Sergeant Chaffey told the court.
Agaalofa’s lawyer John Hennessy said his client refuted the police statement of facts about the alleged rape and would challenge the charges, as he made an application for bail.
Vitale Tiole was living in this converted shipping container when he was arrested and wrongly charged with rape. Agaalofa Agaalofa, who was living nearby, has now been charged over the alleged attack
Mr Hennessy said Agaalofa had never met the teenager and had recently been living in the Grafton area where he was employed picking berries.
Magistrate Hugh Donnelly remanded Agaalofa in custody after expressing concerns about him failing to appear in court.
A day later, on February 1, Mr Tiole made his final appearance at Coffs Harbour Local Court where all charges against the a married father-of-four were withdrawn.
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A NSW Police spokeswoman said the force could not comment on any role the teenager played in allegedly leading detectives to Agaalofa as the case was before the courts.
At the time of the alleged rape, Agaalofa, Mr Tiole and hundreds of other seasonal workers were staying in temporary accommodation at Arrawarra Holiday Park.
Since 2019, fruit pickers granted working visas under the Pacific Labour Mobility scheme have come to Arrawarra to pick berries at a nearby farm.
Up to 400 of them are packed into converted shipping containers and dongas while they work fields planted by Costa Berries at Corindi, about 5km north.
Most of the foreign workforce is hired from Pacific Island countries including Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu as well as Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
Workers are grouped in their accommodation by nationality and language.
Arrawarra is otherwise a popular destination for surfers, backpackers and holidaymakers in caravans who flock to the village for its idyllic waterfront location.
Locals have complained about episodes of drunkenness and aggressive behaviour by some of the seasonal workers who they claim turn the place into a shanty town.
Following the alleged rape the migrant workers were moved out of the holiday park and sent back to their home countries or elsewhere in .