Bundaberg businessman found ‘not guilty’ of child sex offences

A Bundaberg businessman has been found not guilty of alleged child sex offences after a four-day trial *Warning: distressing content.

A Bundaberg businessman has been found not guilty of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16 after a four-day trial.

A Bundaberg businessman has been found not guilty of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16 after a four-day trial.

The trial in Bundaberg District Court began on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, and reached its conclusion on Friday, September 22, 2023, when the jury found the man not guilty after deliberating for about six hours.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing the child from the time she was six years old, and continuing to abuse her for eight years.

A Bundaberg businessman has been found not guilty of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16 after a four-day trial.

Called to the stand by defence barrister James Godbolt on Wednesday, the complainant’s mother said she was extremely vigilant about ensuring any contact between the defendant and her daughter did not transgress into inappropriate touching due to her own upbringing in which her father abused her sexually.

The court heard the woman’s first husband, the complainant’s biological father, had put his hands down the complainant’s pants and touched her genitals on one occasion, which led her to cut off all contact with him.

The woman said the complainant would frequently hug and kiss the defendant, but she had never seen him touch her inappropriately, nor had she ever entered a room occupied by the complainant and defendant and had the sense that she had disturbed something.

She said she had never heard the defendant call the complainant “foxy lady” or suggest that she could be his girlfriend, as had been alleged by the prosecution.

Crown prosecutor Annica Fritz told the court in her opening statements the man had started and continued the unlawful relationship with the child after she, her brothers and mother moved in with him.

She alleged manifestations of the unlawful relationship ranged from innuendos and comments including calling the child “foxy lady” through to “almost daily” sexual abuse, which included what the complainant called a “koala hug”.

“She describes this as a big hug between herself and the defendant where she was lifted from the ground, she wrapped her legs around his waist and they shared a hug in this way,” Ms Fritz told the court.

“The defendant would then slide his hands into her pants, underneath her underwear and rub her vaginal area.”

Ms Fritz told the court these hugs happened on a “nearly daily basis”.

The court heard an allegedly similar situation occurred when the child was lying on the lounge room floor, writing a letter to Santa Claus, when the defendant approached the child and “rubbed her vaginal area over the top of her clothes”.

The court heard the alleged offending was not witnessed by any other members of the family, and was first reported to police when the child was 15 years old.

“We must confront the stark reality that not all crimes leave behind a trail of tangible evidence,” Ms Fritz said.

“The reality is that sexual offences often occur in the shadows away from prying eyes and that makes it difficult to capture tangible evidence.”

The accused was discharged from the courthouse on Friday, September 22, by Judge Allen KC.