‘It’s all over’: Woman sobs after being found not guilty of child sex abuse

A woman sobbed and embraced her family, saying “it’s all over” after the jury took just a few hours to reach a unanimous not guilty verdict on all child sexual abuse charges in District Court.

A woman sobbed and embraced family, saying “it’s all over” after being found not guilty of 11 historical child sexual abuse charges in the Gympie District Court on Wednesday.

A woman sobbed and embraced family, saying “it’s all over” after being found not guilty of 11 historical child sexual abuse charges in the Gympie District Court.

The woman, now aged in her thirties, had been accused of two counts of rape and nine counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12, but the jury took just a few hours to reach a unanimous not guilty verdict on all charges by Wednesday (July 21) afternoon.

In his closing statement on Tuesday afternoon (July 20), defence barrister Tony Kimmins had told the jury they would have to “scrutinise” the alleged victim’s evidence “with great care” before contemplating, let alone returning a guilty verdict.

Prosecutor Katrina Overell said shortly after that the crown case depended significantly on the reliability of the alleged victim’s testimony, telling the jury they needed to be satisfied she was telling the truth in order to return a guilty verdict.

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The woman, as well as family members present in the court to support her, became emotional as the jury returned not guilty verdicts on each charge.

The woman embraced her family after being discharged by Judge Nathan Jarro.