Wayne Trevor Mitchell stands trial over rape, indecent treatment allegations

A jury could not come to a decision at the end of a two-day trial against a man who allegedly raped a young girl at a party.

Wayne Trevor Mitchell leaving Maroochydore Courthouse on April 16, 2024

A jury could not deliver a verdict for a trial against a man who allegedly inappropriately touched a little girl underneath her swimsuit after she fell asleep in his bed.

Wayne Trevor Mitchell pleaded not guilty in the Maroochydore District Court on Tuesday, April 16, to two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and under 12 and one count of rape.

The court was told it was alleged Mr Mitchell raped and indecently dealt with a young girl after a party.

On the second day of the trial on Wednesday, the jury was adjourned at 11.20am to deliberate and requested to rewatch the victim’s video evidence at 2pm.

The trial came to a close at the end of the day when the jury could not deliver a guilty or not guilty verdict.

The matter was adjourned to the next District Court callover.

Second day of the trial

Crown prosecutor Madalyn Olivero and defence barrister Scott Neaves each delivered their closing arguments on the second day of the trial before the jury began their deliberations.

Ms Olivero reminded the jury of the details of the incident which the alleged victim shared in closed court earlier in the trial

She told the court the girl she had worn a full piece swimsuit when she fell asleep in Mr Mitchell’s bed.

Ms Olivero said the girl woke up multiple times, three of which she woke to Mr Mitchell allegedly inappropriately touching her.

The court heard Mr Mitchell had continued to touch her each time until her father entered the room.

Ms Olivero told the court the girl said in her video evidence Mr Mitchell allegedly put his hands down her swimsuit and inappropriately touched her as she pretended to be asleep.

The second time she woke, it is alleged Mr Mitchell was kissing her on the lips and the third occasion related to him allegedly beginning to unzip her swimsuit, the court heard.

The victim’s mother, who sat in the public gallery throughout the morning, stifled a sob as Ms Olivero recounted the evidence given by the girl in court.

Mr Neaves recalled how the girl stated in her evidence her father had allegedly seen Mr Mitchell on top of his daughter and told him to get off.

Mr Neaves questioned if it was “plausible” a father would have returned to drinking after becoming aware of such a sight.

Instead, he suggested to the jury would have been more likely he would have acted more aggressively in an intoxicated state.

First day of the trial

Crown prosecutor Madalyn Olivero told the jury in her opening statements they would hear evidence from the young girl and her parents.

Ms Olivero said on the day of the alleged incident, Mr Mitchell was at a party drinking with the young girl’s father and others.

That evening, the girl told her father she was tired and she went to bed.

Wayne Trevor Mitchell leaving Maroochydore Courthouse on April 16, 2024

The girl fell asleep playing Barbie Dreamhouse on her father’s tablet.

Ms Olivero told the jury that later that night, the girl woke to see her father and Mr Mitchell being “sexually intimate”, which shocked her father and he kept drinking to cope with the discovery.

Later on, Mr Mitchell and the girl’s father joined her in the bed, where they all fell asleep together, though the girl’s father would repeatedly get up throughout the night to answer the phone.

Ms Olivero told the jury the alleged offences took place while the girl’s father was outside of the room, and alleged when the girl woke the next morning, Mr Mitchell had hugged her from behind.

“She will tell you that she wasn’t facing him, but she knew that he wasn’t clothed, or at least didn’t have a shirt on because she could feel his cold skin,” Ms Olivero alleged the jury.

The girl’s father then came in and saw Mr Mitchell with his arm around his daughter and swore at him.

Barrister Scott Neaves told the jury his client was presumed innocent until proven guilty and that the significance of the crown case relied on the evidence of the alleged victim, and whether they find she is reliable and credible.

“You will have to form a view that (the alleged victim) is telling you things that you can rely on and that she is a credible witness,” he said.

He said just because his client was sitting in the courtroom dock, doesn’t mean he had done anything wrong.

The court remained closed for the majority of the day while the jury heard evidence from the alleged victim.

Wayne Trevor Mitchell leaving Maroochydore Courthouse on April 16, 2024

The court then heard from her mother and father.

The mother told the court she had discovered what allegedly took place after she found a message on her daughter’s phone addressing the alleged incident in January, 2022.

She said she had confirmed with her daughter whether the messages were true that night, and then went to police to report the incident.

The father then stepped up to the witness box.

He told the court he stayed awake the whole night of the party, and Mr Mitchell had at some point retired to bed but he had not seen him leave.

He was not aware Mr Mitchell was lying in bed with his daughter until he entered the room in the early morning and saw her curled in a “fetal position on the edge of the bed,” he told the court.

The father said Mr Mitchell “potentially had her arm around her” and he “may have had briefs on” when Ms Olivero questioned him but he could not recall in detail.

He told the court he “flipped out” at Mr Mitchell who immediately jumped up.

The trial will continue on Wednesday.