Warwick man found guilty of molesting daughters makes appeal against convictions

A Warwick man found guilty of historical child sex offences against two of his children has made an appeal in Brisbane Supreme Court. See the decision here.

A Southern Downs man found guilty in 2022 of molesting his two daughters has appealed to Brisbane Supreme Court to have his conviction overturned.

A Southern Downs man found guilty of historic child sex offences against his daughter and stepdaughter has had an appeal against the conviction dismissed.

The man, who cannot be named due to the nature of the offending, was first sentenced in Warwick District Court on May 31, 2022 after a jury found him guilty of a raft of charges.

Before the court on an 18 count indictment, the man was found guilty of 11 offences relating to indecent treatment of children under 16, maintaining an unlawful relationship with a child and rape, according to the court documents.

In a judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal in Brisbane on May 28, it was revealed the grounds for the appeal against his conviction, filed by the man’s Brisbane-based solicitors, related to the admissibility of propensity evidence and the adequacy of directions to the jury about the risk of concoction.

It was argued that the propensity evidence during the trial, which suggested the man had a tendency to engage in sexual activity with a female child in his care, should’ve been inadmissable.

Further, the appeal argued the trial judge made an error in refusing to order that counts one and two, relating to separate offending against the half-sisters, be tried independently of another.

In addressing these two grounds collectively, the Court of Appeal concluded the trial judge made no error in allowing the propensity evidence to be admissible, nor in their decision not to hold separate trials for counts one and two.

The court continued in addressing the third ground of the appeal, ultimately deciding although the trial judge didn’t directly reference the benchbook warning relating to a jury’s consideration of collusion in the admissible evidence, the directions given at trial were sufficiently similar.

The historical offending against one of the complainants, the man’s stepdaughter is said to have occurred for almost a decade in the late 1980s until June of 1993.

A second complainant, the man’s biological daughter is said to have also experienced vile acts of sexual abuse from ages 14 to when she was almost 18.

The jury found the man guilty on counts one and two of the indictment, indecent treatment of a child under 16 and an aggravated offence of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, relating to offending against the man’s stepdaughter.

He was found guilty of nine charges relating to an aggravated offence of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, and eight counts of rape relating to the offending against the mans biological daughter.

The man was sentenced to serve 10 years imprisonment as a head sentence and received lesser sentences for the other related offending he was convicted of.

A serious violent offence declaration was applied to the head sentence, which related to the charge of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the man’s appeal against his conviction was dismissed.

Originally published as Warwick man found guilty of molesting daughters makes appeal against convictions