District Court hears alleged sex abuser 'Mother Goose' was set up by Family murder suspect

LAWYERS for alleged paedophile Robert "Mother Goose" Symonds say their client's trial has been orchestrated by a key suspect in the notorious Family murders.

LAWYERS for alleged paedophile Robert Symonds say he has been "set up" by a suspect in the Family murders.

Symonds's lawyers asserted his trial had been orchestrated by a man whose name has been suppressed by the District Court. They have told the court the man pressured three former gay prostitutes to give evidence against Symonds, dubbed "Mother Goose".

His motive, they said, was revenge because Symonds supplied information to police about the murders.

Prosecutors rejected their claims, saying police sought out the former prostitutes after reading submissions they made, about Symonds, to the Mullighan Inquiry.

Symonds, 59, of Vale Park, has pleaded not guilty to child sex offences, including persistent sexual exploitation, gross indecency and unlawful sexual intercourse. He has admitted frequenting "gay beats" throughout the city, but denied having ever paid for sex or partaken of underage sex.

Giving evidence yesterday, one of the alleged victims said he came to know Symonds "on the beat".

"The queens basically paraded boys off around Adelaide. There were sort of property rights (to us)," he said. "(Symonds) was one of those people. He got mixed

up with the von Einem story, and that's when he made a lot of enemies."

Bevan Spencer von Einem is serving a life sentence for the murder of Richard Kelvin, one of five men killed between 1979 and 1983, allegedly by a group of homosexuals.

Police believe that group, which has come to be known as "The Family", preyed on young men by drugging and sexually abusing them.

The alleged victim said the suspect - with whom he regularly had sex - had not spoken to him about Symonds.