Man found guilty of 12 counts of indecent treatment of a child
A man who sexually abused a child over a two-year period, sometimes when the pair was watching movies or taking the boy to KFC, has been found guilty of 12 offences.
Police & Courts
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A jury has found a man guilty of 12 counts of indecent treatment of a child after a trial in Hervey Bay.
On Tuesday the 51-year-old man pleaded not guilty to six counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12 lineal descendant/guardian/carer, one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 lineal descendant/guardian/carer and five counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 when he appeared before Hervey Bay District Court.
But on Thursday, a jury delivered a guilty verdict on all charges.
Members of the victim’s family openly wept when the verdicts were read out.
The jury found the man, who was a close friend of the boy’s family and cannot be named for legal reasons, sexually molested the child, starting from when the boy was about 10 years old.
Crown prosecutor Daniel Sampey told the jury in his opening statement they would hear from a number of witnesses including the male victim.
“Each of them will give evidence about how they knew the defendant and the relationship they had with him,” he said.
Mr Sampey said the most important witness was the boy and the Crown case would turn on whether he was found to be an honest and truthful witness.
The child’s evidence would be presented in the form of recordings, which was common in such cases.
He said after disclosing to his mother and grandmother, the boy had then spoken to police.
Mr Sampey said the charges related to six separate occasions during which the boy was sexually abused.
The first occasion was when the boy visited the man’s home to play video games.
The man asked to touch him inappropriately, later removing his pants and touching him.
The second occasion was when the boy was about 11 and visiting the man’s home.
While playing video games, the man touched him inappropriately.
On another occasion the family had gone to a funeral and the man was babysitting the boy.
The man touched the boy on the bottom and performed oral sex on him, Mr Sampey told the court.
On another occasion when the man was staying at the family home, he took the victim to get KFC and touched him inappropriately on the outside of the clothes and then on the inside of his clothes, the court heard.
On another occasion the man was watching YouTube videos in the boy’s bedroom. The boy went to see what he was doing and was touched inappropriately and the man performed oral sex on him, the court heard.
On the final occasion, the two were watching a war movie when the rest of the family had gone to bed.
The man touched the boy inappropriately, then performed oral sex on him, Mr Sampey said.
Defence barrister Phillip Hardcastle said the man has been brought up in foster homes, during which he had been seriously assaulted.
Judge William Everson said the offences occurred over a period of about two and a half years, starting when the boy was 10.
He said the man’s offending was for his own sexual gratification, in circumstances where he had been in a position of trust.
The man was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison.
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