Court of Appeal rejects Townsville man’s appeal against indecent treatment of girl

A North Qld man’s attempt to appeal against his conviction for the indecent treatment of a girl aged under 16 has been rejected by Queensland’s highest court.

A Townsville man’s attempt to appeal against his conviction for the indecent treatment of a girl aged under 16 has been rejected by Queensland’s highest court. Picture: Generic

A Townsville man’s attempt to appeal against his conviction for the indecent treatment of a girl aged under 16 has been rejected by Queensland’s highest court.

The man, who cannot be identified, appealed against his conviction after a two-day trial in which the defence argued that the incident as described by the victim never happened.

The appellant was sentenced in 2024 to six months’ jail, of which he was to serve three months before the remainder of the sentence was to be suspended for a year.

The Court of Appeal, in a written decision delivered on Friday, said the appellant argued that the verdict was “unreasonable or cannot be supported by the evidence”.

The court said that according to the complainant – who considered the appellant to be a father figure – the man rubbed her vagina over the top of her pyjamas during an incident a number of years previously.

The victim said she later told her mother about the incident after the appellant “asked her a ‘stupid question’ which was ‘can you twerk?’.

“The complainant’s mother and aunty took the complainant to the police four days later.” According to the document, the man argued that the verdict was unreasonable and was not supported by the evidence.

“Proper consideration was not given to inconsistencies and discrepancies in the evidence of the complainant and as between the complainant and her mother which should have caused the jury to have reasonable doubt.”

In its considered and lengthy decision, the Court of Appeal found that regarding all the evidence, “it was unquestionably open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was guilty of the offence of which he was convicted”.

“The guilty verdict was not unreasonable and was supported by the evidence.”

The court also rejected an appeal based on what the appellant argued was a failure by the trial judge to adequately provide directions to the jury that “caused there to be a miscarriage of justice”.

“The appellant has not established that the verdict was unreasonable or could not be supported by the evidence … Nor has the appellant established that the trial judge failed to adequately direct the jury,” the court concluded in rejecting the appeal and denying that any miscarriage of justice had occurred.

Originally published as Court of Appeal rejects Townsville man’s appeal against indecent treatment of girl