Townsville child rapist Kevin Michael Loudon found not guilty of breaching court orders
A notorious child rapist has been found not guilty of breaching court orders after randomly crossing paths with four boys on several occasions in Townsville.
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A notorious child rapist who assaulted multiple children has been let free after he was found not guilty of breaching court orders after randomly crossing paths with four boys on several occasions in Townsville.
Kevin Michael Loudon, 59 of Townsville, was found not guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court on Wednesday after he was charged for breaching conditions imposed after he was released from jail in 2019.
He had been jailed for attacking eight boys and one girl.
While the order meant he could not contact children, the court heard Loudon encountered a mother and her four young “boisterous” boys, aged between seven and three, on several occasions while visiting the Stuart Tip Shop between April and October 2020.
The mother said Loudon told her he was a volunteer, saying he spoke with her and her boys on several occasions — laughing with the kids, and “playing sword fights”.
She told police prosecutor Luay Allawy that Loudon offered to drop off or have her pick up a steering wheel and pedal accessories for a PlayStation.
As a result of the allegations he was charged with five counts of contravening a relevant order.
Loudon pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday during a summary trial.
Loudon told the court he visited Stuart Tip Shop twice a week on his own or with a friend.
There he said he chatted with the shop’s owner, Georgia Bakk, helped lift heavy items, helped customers find where items were located, and helped elderly people load their vehicles.
Loudon said he “freaked out” after being blindsided by one of the children when they crossed paths during a brief visit to RACQ at the Willows – for which he had permission.
During cross examination by defence barrister Darin Honchin, the mother was unable to recall dates, times, or on how many occasions she saw Loudon at the tip shop.
Loudon said he “never took much notice of the kids”, except after being instructed by the shop owner to yell at them to quiet down.
The court heard one of the children approached him with a piece of wire, forcing him to back up and drop it.
Queensland Corrective Services senior case manager Emma de Burca said Loudon signed a “reasonable direction” order in July 2020, requiring the disclosure of names and contact details for any associates he met with regularly.
But defence challenged Ms de Burca’s definition of an associate, questioning whether it was appropriate or practical for Loudon to declare random contact he had with a family whose names he claimed not to know.
Magistrate Peter Smid agreed there was a “grey area” around defining an associate which must be disclosed.
He was “troubled” by the “wishy-washy” and “nebulous” evidence regarding the number of times Loudon met the family.
He said he couldn’t be confident it matched the number of charges.
“Given the nature of particularity, given the contact was uninvited, and given that the contact would have been brief, and perhaps very meaningless to either party, it seems to me in all of those circumstances that a court must entertain the reasonable doubt about the accused on all charges,” Magistrate Smid said.
He released Loudon immediately, saying he had been “punished more than enough” by the 320 days he served in pre-sentence custody for these charges.
Louden’s history of violence against children includes raping an eight-year-old girl, sexually abusing the girl’s brother and forcing or coercing seven other boys into horrible sex acts.
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Originally published as Townsville child rapist Kevin Michael Loudon found not guilty of breaching court orders
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