Hung jury in historic Keith stepfather sexual abuse trial in Mount Gambier District Court
A man accused of vile sex acts against his 10-year-old stepdaughter two decades ago will face a retrial after the jury could not reach a verdict.
Mount Gambier
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A Mount Gambier District Court jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a man accused of vile sex acts against his stepdaughter.
After more than four hours of deliberation, the jury was discharged on Monday after informing Judge Michael Burnett it was unable to reach a unanimous or majority decision on all three charges.
The man in his 50s, who cannot be named to protect the victim’s identity, had pleaded not guilty to maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child, unlawful sexual intercourse with a child and indecent assault.
A retrial will take place in 2021.
In a four-day trial last week the court heard the man allegedly began sexually abusing the victim at 10 years of age at their Keith home two decades ago.
It was alleged he regularly entered her bedroom late at night and sexually assaulted her on the top bunk as her sister slept below.
The court also heard the victim, now in her 30s, was allegedly sexually assaulted on the side of the South Eastern Freeway in the front seat of his car as other siblings slept in the back around her 12th birthday.
Earlier, prosecutor Dr Peter Salu argued it was understandable there was inconsistency in the evidence, saying it was to be expected the victim would remember some details of the alleged abuse two decades ago clearer than others.
He detailed the indecent acts alleging they occurred several times a week for around two years and the victim was scared of what the accused would do to her, her mother and her siblings if she spoke up.
“What was happening was so frequent, so regular that it was almost ordinary,” Dr Salu said.
“It happened so often it’s difficult to distinguish one event from another.”
Dr Salu argued the accused was aware the victim had previously reported another person for inappropriately touching her at the age of eight and nothing had happened.
“He knew there were no consequences,” he said.
Defence lawyer James Marcus agreed the accused was aware of the past accusation but argued it was not common sense to believe the man would sexual abuse a child known to talk.
“She has complained about this before. She first complained about someone touching her in 1998,” Mr Marcus said.
Instead he argued the victim and her mother had motives for bringing the case forward.
“Here we are 20 years later for retribution for what happened in their Keith home,” he said.
While multiple witnesses provided evidence of domestic violence occurring in the Keith home, Mr Marcus pointed out inconsistencies in the victim’s accounts.
He argued it was not common sense to believe such “brazen and shameless offending” occurred with the whole family, or even guests in the home or on a public roadside.
“The sexual offending is only supported by what (the victim) says happened – it relies entirely on her say so,” he said.
The accused was excused from appearing as the jury told the judge it would not come to a verdict.
He was remanded on bail until the case can be retried next year.