Queensland police officer acquitted of rape charge
A senior Queensland police officer has been acquitted of rape following a trial in Brisbane’s District Court.
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A senior Queensland police officer has been acquitted of rape following a trial in Brisbane’s District Court.
Inspector Anthony John Clowes, 54, had pleaded not guilty to the single count of rape the prosecution alleged had occurred in December 1999 when he was a detective in the Gladstone Criminal Investigation Branch.
The woman did not make an official police report about the alleged rape until 2021, the jury heard during the four day trial this week.
She had alleged that after a Central Queensland Christmas party she had fallen asleep fully clothed and woke up to feel Insp Clowes raping her, the court heard.
But barrister Saul Holt, KC, said an October 2021 pretext call between his client and the complainant would allow the jury to conclude “there was a drunken moment, short episode of sexual contact, between the two of them on the night”.
“But you will also be able to conclude there was no sexual intercourse at all,” he said.
“You will also conclude that it was consensual what occurred to the extent that it did, and that she was not asleep, and that it ended before anything significant happened.”
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty on Thursday.
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