Mackay woman charged with multiple counts of rape against teen girl

A Qld woman accused of doing ‘terrible things’ to an underage teen has made a freedom bid during which a magistrate questioned if blackmail was involved.

A 37-year-old Mackay woman is charged with three counts of rape against a girl and one count of procuring the same girl to commit an indecent act.

A woman accused of doing “terrible things” to an underage teen has made a freedom bid during which a magistrate questioned if coercive control or blackmail was involved.

The 37-year-old Mackay woman is charged with three counts of rape against a girl and one count of procuring the same girl to commit an indecent act.

Police allege the offending occurred in late 2024 in the Mackay region.

The case was mentioned in Mackay Magistrates Court on Monday when the woman appeared via videolink for a bail application.

The court heard she was not in a show cause position, meaning she had the presumption of bail.

Legal Aid Queensland solicitor Rosie Varley said her client had been diagnosed with a serious condition and had been treated on a forensic order, indicating it was possible the matters might need to be referred to another jurisdiction.

Magistrate Damien Dwyer said this submission would be more acceptable if there was any indication the woman was “working in or under the direction of who you say the main perpetrator is, but she wasn’t”.

Mr Dwyer said it was alleged the woman had “done a lot of independent acts on her own”.

“According to the evidence, which is very strong … which indicates … she had a purpose, she went and picked them up,” he said.

Mr Dwyer said it was further alleged the woman “said certain things” to the alleged main perpetrator “which was very concerning”.

“I understand those allegations are in dispute and in my submission they are only allegations at this point in time,” Ms Varley said, adding there were bail conditions that could be placed on her client to mitigate and risk if released.

The court heard the woman had an address, but Mr Dwyer said that was not the issue before asking if there was any information about the “relationship or the control between the two parties”, in relation to the man.

Sergeant Linden Pollard said he would make inquiries, adding the pair must have had a prior relationship “based on those comments”.

“It seems to be that … the allegations are she did a lot of very terrible things independently,” Mr Dwyer said.

“And I’m wondering why … was there some control, some blackmail.”

Mr Dwyer added the allegations, while terrible, were “a little bit vague at this stage”.

“The reason I want to know this is, what is the chance of her doing it again while she’s on bail? How do I mitigate any risk of her committing further offences,” Mr Dwyer said.

The court heard the woman had previously been found unfit to proceed, but had also had serious matters dealt with before.

The matter was adjourned to a later date.

*This publication has not named the woman at this stage because it is unknown if doing so will identify the alleged victim.