Man acquitted of ‘sexually touching’ girl at Coffs Coast shopping centre

A man who was accused of deliberately grabbing a ten-year-old girl at a clothing store has had his conviction thrown out by a court.

A man who was accused of sexually touching a ten-year-old girl at a Coffs Coast shopping centre has had his conviction thrown out by a court.

Tyrone Pettit lodged an appeal in the Coffs Harbour District Court arguing that the touching at the clothing store was incidental.

Police had alleged in court that Pettit had deliberately grabbed her right buttock.

Following a hearing in the Local Court earlier this year, Magistrate Ian Rodgers had found Mr Pettit guilty of intentionally sexually touching a child less than 16-years-old and sentenced him to a two year Community Correction Order, including 100 hours of community service.

Judge Jonathan Priestley handed down his judgment in Coffs Harbour District Court.

But after a recent appeal hearing in the District Court, Judge Jonathan Priestley found that the allegations could not be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court had heard the alleged incident unfolded at Best & Less in Toormina Gardens Shopping Centre on September 14, 2009.

Judge Priestley said that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr Pettit had intentionally sexually touched the young girl, and the possibility of it being incidental remained open.

The alleged incident had unfolded at a Toormina shopping centre in 2019.

He said that Mr Pettit’s “twisting and turning” movements shown on CCTV footage could be consistent with someone who had time on their hands and decided to leave the shop by a “circuitous route”. The defence had argued that Mr Pettit had been passing time at the shopping centre while waiting for a family member attending an appointment.

“… it is plainly possibly given the angle of the CCTV that that footage shows a person passing an area where he would turn side on and his hand incidentally bumps the complainant,” he said in his judgment.

“It is also reasonably open that the (young girl) looked very startled and he expressed concern and apologised.

“Notably, (Mr Pettit) said … that he left the store and the centre so as to avoid a scene, or, quite possibly, a feared injust allegation.”

Judge Priestley allowed the appeal and overturned the conviction and sentence.