Former Toowoomba religious figure found guilty of raping foster daughter after three-day trial

A former Toowoomba religious figure is facing years in jail after being found guilty of raping his foster daughter.

A former Toowoomba religious figure has been found guilty of raping and maintaining a sexual relationship with his foster daughter.

The public gallery of the Toowoomba District Court, packed with family and supporters of the accused man, broke into a chorus of audible sobs when the jury on Thursday returned guilty verdicts on all four charges – maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, two counts of rape and one of indecent treatment of a child under 16 as a guardian.

The man’s distraught wife was ushered temporarily from the court but returned to hug her husband over the perspex wall of the dock when the court was adjourned.

The man, who cannot be named so as to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded not guilty to all four charges on the first day of his Toowoomba District Court trial this week.

The girl was aged 11 and 12 at the time of the offences against her.

Much of the trial was closed to the public while the evidence of the now 18-year-old victim and her younger siblings had their prerecorded evidence played to the court.

However, in her opening of the case, Crown prosecutor Emily Coley told the jury the girl and her siblings had been fostered to the man and his wife and that the sexual abuse had started not long after they entered the home.

Each of the children had their own rooms and the girl said her foster father had regularly entered her room at night when the rest of the house was asleep and had, or tried to have, sex with her, she said.

Ms Coley said the girl was aged just 11 and 12 at the time and she claimed these visits took place up to three times a week.

The girl was 14 when she found four videos of her on her foster father’s mobile phone which were taken from outside her bedroom window while she was dressed in her underwear.

The man claimed he had taken the video as the girl had been talking with someone on the internet and he wanted to have the videos as proof to show her but he had “chickened out”, the court heard.

A Toowoomba District Court jury found the man guilty of all four child sex offences.

During deliberations, the jury of six women and six men reviewed evidence of the man’s wife and other witnesses before coming to the verdicts of guilty.

The man, who had been impeccably dressed in suit and tie throughout the trial, was led away to the watch-house cells during a two-hour adjournment before sentence.

He was returned to the court with his tie removed, in keeping with watch house policy, but his sentence hearing was to be adjourned.

His barrister David Jones KC explained that his client had been seeing a psychologist for some time and submitted it would be prudent to obtain a psychological report before sentence is imposed.

Judge Dennis Lynch KC said he was not due back in Toowoomba until next year but he was in Ipswich District Court for the next month and could hand down sentence there.

With the agreement of both Mr Jones and Ms Coley, Judge Lynch adjourned sentence to the District Court at Ipswich at a date to be set and remanded the guilty man in custody.

Originally published as Former Toowoomba religious figure found guilty of raping foster daughter after three-day trial