Cairns crime: Reginald Perrin not guilty of sexual assault of younger woman

The trial of a man accused of the sexual assault of a young woman has concluded in the Cairns District Court with a jury finding him not guilty.

A 67-year-old White Rock man was found not guilty of a sexual assault charge in Cairns District Court on Tuesday.

Computer technician Reginald Perrin was charged with touching the vagina of a younger woman while he gave her a consensual massage.

In his summing up, defence barrister James Sheridan said the current political environment around sexual assault made things difficult.

“It is made incredibly difficult in the current environment of #MeToo obviously that sexual assaults should be taken seriously … the #MeToo movement doesn’t mean that everyone must be believed, it must be that if an allegation of sexual assault is made, it should be taken seriously,” Mr Sheridan said.

Mr Perrin denied touching the complainant in an inappropriate way during the massage he said she had insisted on.

Mr Perrin said the complainant complained about being in physical pain and that over several months he gave her four massages, and although he suggested she see a physiotherapist or chiropractor she said it was too expensive.

Mr Perrin also suggested, in text messages seen by the court, that the complainant could get her boyfriend to give her a massage.

He said the complainant did not have a good relationship with her father and asked if she could call him “Daddy” and be his “baby daughter”.

But on the night in question after giving the complainant a massage where she was progressively partly undressed, Mr Perrin said he told her he did not want to be her “Daddy.”

The complainant sent messages to a friend indicating something inappropriate had occurred and that she was scared and had locked the door.

Mr Perrin said he massaged the complainant with his fists because he had a hand condition that meant one finger would not straighten, and forensic medical officer Dr Leslie Griffiths gave evidence about the condition.

Cross examining Mr Perrin, prosecutor Claudia Georgouras suggested Mr Perrin was thinking of the complainant in a sexual way and touched her when she dozed off to sleep.

“You’re kidding, love, I didn’t touch her,” Mr Perrin responded.

Ms Georgouras put it to Mr Perrin that he pulled down his own pants, tried to pull the woman down on the couch and tried to kiss her shoulder.

Mr Perrin denied this.

In her closing address, Ms Georgouras said the defence had tried to paint the complainant as “an outcast … preying on him” and were “making her out to be a horrible person that she’s just not”.

Earlier in proceedings, the complainant gave evidence in a closed court.

The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning a not guilty verdict.

Originally published as Cairns crime: Reginald Perrin not guilty of sexual assault of younger woman