Townsville District Court jury discharged after no verdict was agree upon following NQ stepfather rape trial

After almost three days of deliberating a jury has been officially discharged after jurors revealed they could not agree on whether a man accused of raping his stepdaughter was guilty or not.

Townsville Court House. Picture: Shae Beplate.

In what has been a lengthy trial where a man was alleged to have raped his stepdaughter over four years in the family home and on camping trips, the jury has revealed they cannot reach a verdict.

The trial which began on April 22 but excluded the Anzac Day public holiday has ran for now six days before Judge Nicole Kefford.

The North Queensland man pleaded not guilty to nine charges of rape and one charge of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child and was represented by defence barrister Ross Malcomson instructed by Rennick Lawyers and claimed the girl made up the claims.

Crown prosecutor Shannon Sutherland told the jury in her closing address that the girl was 10 years old when the alleged rape began and ended when she was 14.

On Tuesday the jury resumed deliberating before returning a note to Judge Kefford that said, “The jury is unable to come to a unanimous decision on any or all of the counts and the alternatives”.

Her Honour advised the jury that experience showed when given more time jurors were able to come back with an agreed verdict, and asked if they would return to the deliberation room to discuss whether they could come to an agreement or not.

Almost an hour later the jurors advised Her Honour they were still unable to come to an agreement on any of the charges, to which they offered a majority verdict.

Judge Kefford ordered the jurors return to the deliberation room and decide if 11 of them were in agreement, and after 20 minutes the jurors came back with a final note that said, “We regret to inform you a majority verdict is unable to be reached on any of the charges”.

Her Honour officially discharged the jury members.

The matter was adjourned to May 3 to be mentioned before Judge Gregory Lynham in Townsville District Court.

Deliberation

The trial for a man accused of raping his stepdaughter in their family home and on camping trips has continued as the jury proceeds to deliberate a verdict.

The North Queensland man has pleaded not guilty to nine charges of raping his stepdaughter and one charge of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.

On Monday morning the jury came back to the Townsville District Court for a second day of deliberation.

The trial wrapped up on Wednesday last week where defence barrister Ross Malcomson instructed by Rennick Lawyers provided his closing address and claimed the sexual abuse simply didn’t happen, and the 16-year-old girl had a motive to lie after she was grounded by her stepdad and mum.

Crown prosecutor Shannon Sutherland also provided her closing address telling the jury that the girl was raped from the age of 10 and continued until she was 14.

On Friday during the first day of deliberation the jury wrote a note to Judge Nicole Kefford asking to receive copies of the court transcripts and asking if they could re-watch the recording of the girl’s interviews, which were played for them again Monday with the court closed to non-essential people.

By Monday afternoon the recordings were still being replayed to the jury.

The deliberation will continue on Tuesday.

Generic photo, Townsville Court House. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Trial day two and three

The trial for a man who was alleged by a young girl of raping her for years in the family home has come to an end with the crown prosecutor and defence team providing their final arguments to the jury.

It has been alleged that a North Queensland man who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, raped the girl from the age of 10 for four years and would allegedly rape her in her bedroom, in the car port and on camping trips.

The man has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of rape and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, with defence barrister Ross Malcomson claiming the now 16-year-old girl made the abuse up after being grounded by her parents.

On Tuesday, the second day of the trial, the crown called upon the girl’s biological and step siblings, her mother and police involved in the investigation.

The man chose not to provide his own evidence which was his right to do so.

On day three of the trial crown prosecutor Shannon Sutherland said the man’s abuse of the child was the “worst kept secret” in the household and that despite the defence suggesting the girl made up the allegations after being grounded, the girl “outright rejected” that argument and that the jury should too.

“The rapes stopped in 2021, the year before she left home in September 2022,” Ms Sutherland said.

“After that he would only touch her by playing with her breasts and nibbling her ears, why would she say the rapes stopped the year before she left home?”

Ms Sutherland said despite the girl telling other siblings in the household, they did nothing.

“The disclosures had divided the family.

“(Her mother) and the children were here to support the defendant who is on trial, and you may think that’s what has influenced their evidence.”

Ms Sutherland highlighted that when the girl’s sister who shared a room with her was interviewed for the trial she never outright denied seeing the defendant sexually assault the girl and when asked about the alleged abuse responded with “I don’t really know about that stuff”.

Law and justice concept - Themis statue, judge hammer and books. Courtroom.

The crown suggested that with a large household, there was “a lot going on” and a lot of “junk” and the alleged abuse could have gone on undetected.

“I suggest he was able to get away with it, if there was an open door policy you may think that closing the door would draw more attention,” Ms Sutherland said.

“They weren’t long instances, they were at night when everyone was asleep.”

Mr Malcomson concluded that at no stage while the girl was living at the family home did the man do anything sexual towards her, and the jury should question the girl’s “credibility, reliability and truthfulness”.

The defence said there were four main points the jury should use to conclude that the man was not guilty and the young girl lied about the abuse.

Mr Malcomson first highlighted the timing of the official complaint made by the girl to police, as it arose after she left home to be with her boyfriend, and when interviewed for the trial admitted she left home to avoid her “toxic” mum, not to avoid her stepfather.

He further said there were inconsistencies in the girl’s account of events, and that there was “implausibility” of what she said occurred.

“This relates to how unlikely it would be that what she said happened, happened due to the layout of the house, position of the rooms, her sister being present, it being a small house and there being an open door policy”.

It was emphasised by Mr Malcomson that a significant number of people lived in the household and not one person heard or saw any of the alleged abuse.

“Surely one or more persons would’ve seen or heard something,” he said.

“The prosecution has fallen well short of providing proof without reasonable doubt.

“Ladies and gentlemen, use your common sense. There’s not one piece of corroborative evidence to back up the story.”

The trial which was held before Judge Nicole Kefford ended Wednesday afternoon with the judge’s summing up of the arguments and is set to resume with the jury’s deliberation on Friday morning following the Anzac Day public holiday.

Generic photo, Townsville Court House. Picture: Shae Beplate.

Trial day one

A North Queensland man who police have alleged raped his stepdaughter over a four-year period has pleaded not guilty in court as the trial begins in Townsville District Court this week.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, has pleaded not guilty to nine counts of rape and one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 12.

Crown prosecutor Shannon Sutherland told the jury, which was made up of five women, seven men and one reserved member, that from 2017 to 2022 the stepfather would kiss the 10-year-old girl, “lick and nibble” her ears and helped shave her legs.

She told the jury the first instance in which the girl alleged she was raped was in 2018 when the man sat on her bed to comfort her while she couldn’t sleep before he started to rub her thighs and made his way to her genitals where he raped her with his finger, then his penis.

Ms Sutherland said the girl shared a bedroom with her sister, and during the alleged rapes the man would tell the sister to turn and face the wall.

The crown also said the girl was allegedly raped twice in the carport at their home and two times while they went camping.

“At 13 she left home for a week to get away from him and the rape stopped,” Ms Sutherland alleged.

The crown told the jury the girl claimed her siblings knew, but she never told her mother and in 2022 she came to the attention of police when she ran away from home.

Ms Sutherland said the girl’s siblings will say during their interviews that they only saw the stepfather hug and kiss the girl.

The trial which is expected to go for three to four days will see evidence presented from the alleged victim, her siblings, her mother, her boyfriend, the defendant’s sons and police officers involved in the investigation.

Defence barrister Ross Malcomson who was instructed by Rennick Lawyers will maintain the offending never happened.

The court was closed for the alleged victim to give evidence and the trial will resume Tuesday.

Originally published as Townsville District Court jury discharged after no verdict was agree upon following NQ stepfather rape trial