Mario Didulica appeal: Lawyer questions grounds of extradition

A former police officer who was jailed for sexually abusing a teenager in Geelong has appealed his sentence.

Mario Didulica in 2010. FILE PICTURE

A former police officer who was jailed for sexually abusing a teenager in Geelong has appealed his sentence.

Mario Simon Didulica, 53, was sentenced to three years’ jail in June this year for historical offences in 2010.

A justy found Didulica guilty of engaging in an indecent act with a child, attempted sexual penetration and sexual penetration.

Didulica was arrested by Interpol officers in October 2018 after he moved to Croatia and tried to cross the Bosnian border to attend a funeral.

Didulica’s lawyer Georgina Connelly said they were appealing the sentence on two grounds.

These included the legitimacy of the extradition from Croatia and the dates surrounding the offending.

The court heard that the victim told police about two similar incidents with Didulica involving oral penetration, but he was only charged with the relevant offence once.

But Ms Connelly argued it was not clear which incident Didulica was charged for that led to his extradition from Croatia.

“It is not possible to discern whether it became a charged act or an uncharged act,” she said.

She said police needed to prove the alleged act which resulted in Didulica’s extradition.

“It’s the concrete act upon which the person is being extradited, not just that charge,” she said.

Ms Connelly also said the dates of the offending were an issue, based on some of the complainant’s evidence.

She said the offending could not have occurred on a particular day due to another person being home at Didulica’s house, or days the victim was in school all day.

Crown prosecutor Jane Warren said police were satisfied with extraditing Didulica based on the charge he was found guilty of.

Ms Warren told the court Ms Connelly’s submission that the offending could only have occurred on days when the girl had a whole day off school was not definitive.

In a victim impact statement read out in court earlier this year, the victim said she suffered guilt and stress from Didulica’s offending.

“My innocence was taken from me,” she said.

“I was exposed to things no teenager should not be exposed to. I was left to deal with shame and blame for 10 years.”

The matter will return to court at a later date.

Originally published as Mario Didulica appeal: Lawyer questions grounds of extradition