Jury finds Ballina man Jeffrey Roy Christensen, 54, not guilty of historical child sexual abuse allegations

A Ballina man accused of plying a woman with alcohol and cannabis before sexually abusing her as a teen has been found not guilty by a jury. Here’s what the court heard.

A jury found Jeffrey Roy Christensen not guilty of sexually abusing a teen girl. File image. Picture: iStock

A Ballina man has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl 25 years ago in the Northern Rivers.

Jeffrey Roy Christensen, 54, was found not guilty at trial on three counts of aggravated sexual assault and two counts of aggravated indecent assault.

The court heard a woman came forward to police alleging Christensen sexually assaulted her in the Northern Rivers when she was about 13 on several occasions more than two decades ago between 1996-97.

Asked in court why she did not inform anyone sooner, the woman said she felt ashamed.

Christensen denied all allegations levelled against him.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges and told police he had no sexual interest in the girl.

The woman told the court she wanted to take her own life after the alleged abuse.

The prosecution needed to convince the jury beyond reasonable doubt that Christensen committed the crimes he was accused of to get a conviction.

But after hearing the evidence against Christensen at trial, the jury delivered a verdict of not guilty at Coffs Harbour District Court on all charges after deliberating for two-and-half-hours on November 30, 2022.

On Monday, September 11, an application brought by Mr Christensen to have his legal costs remunerated was dismissed by Judge Jonathan Priestley at Lismore District Court.