Mackay stepfather found not guilty of digital rape in two-day trial

A Queensland stepfather has been found not guilty of digitally raping his then eight-year-old stepdaughter as the judge remarked on the “powerful statement” of his lawyer.

A stepfather has been accused of digitally raping a then 8-year-old girl, who told lawyers a TV news clip about a court case helped her realise it “was wrong”.

A Queensland stepfather has been found not guilty of digitally raping a then eight-year-old girl, the court hearing she was a “sad girl who told a big lie to get her mother back”.

The man, who cannot legally be named, was charged in Mackay District Court on October 13 with committing rape (domestic violence) in Blacks Beach, Mackay, on an unknown date between April 15 and May 20, 2018.

An eight man and four woman jury found him not guilty about 2pm Tuesday.

Judge John Coker remarked upon the “powerful statement” from the stepfather’s barrister Scott McLennan, instructed by McKays Solicitors.

The court heard Mr McLennan claim the complainant’s allegation was fuelled by a desire for her mother and father to live closer interstate.

“He commenced with the statement this is about a sad girl who told a big lie to get her mother back,” Judge Coker said.

“He said there were no indicators of grooming at all … if anything (there was evidence the man was) not being overly affectionate toward (the girl).

“What happened here was in fact the complete opposite of grooming and therefore the whole thing doesn’t make any sense.

“If (the man) was in jail, her mother would be able to choose her and … be back (interstate).”

The court heard the girl’s mother had moved back interstate before returning to Mackay in late 2019 without telling her daughter and without phoning her at Christmas.

Mr McLennan pointed to the allegations then arising in January 2020.

“He said all of these would give rise to doubts of a reasonable nature … and that (the jury) would not be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Coker said.

“In fact, Mr McLennan concluded with a rather powerful statement as he put it that his client was innocent.”

The man was discharged.

TRIAL DAY 1

In his opening statement on the first day of the trial, Crown prosecutor Cameron Wilkins told the jury the girl made the complaint to police nearly two years after the alleged offence.

“At some stage in January 2020, (she) was with her dad and his partner (interstate watching TV); it was on a story about a man leaving a courthouse after sexually abusing a child,” Mr Wilkins said.

“It was this story that prompted her as to what this defendant did to her in her bedroom back in 2018.

“And it was this story that then prompted her to know what he was doing was wrong.

“Because (she) will tell you she didn’t know what happened to her was wrong.”

Mr Wilkins said the complainant’s father recalled her saying the stepfather “came into her room when she was asleep and played with her vagina” when she was living in Mackay.

The court heard her father soon made an appointment with a counsellor and a complaint was later made to interstate police.

“He got into bed with her, lay behind her, put his hand inside the pullups she was wearing and digitally raped her,” Mr Wilkins said the young girl told police.

“(She) had awoken, said ‘Ouch, you’re hurting me’; he removed his finger, got off or out of her bed, and left her room.”

Mr Wilkins said the matter was transferred to Queensland Police but pandemic travel restrictions delayed the investigation, until borders opened in 2022.

The complainant was 14 when she was cross-examined by Mr Wilkins and Mr McLennan.

The trial continued on Tuesday, October 14.