Sean Kearns: ADFA rugby coach pleads not guilty to indecency and assault charges

A “very intoxicated” army officer allegedly squeezed a young woman’s buttocks and rubbed another on the thigh during an end of footy season celebration.

A “very intoxicated” army officer allegedly squeezed a young woman on the buttocks and rubbed another on the thigh during a boozy night celebrating the end of the footy season last year, a court heard.

Australian Defence Force Academy men’s rugby coach Lieutenant Colonel Sean Patrick Kearns faced the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra on Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to two counts of indecency and one count of assault.

The alleged offending came to light when one of the women sent the other a message saying Kearns had been “a bit handsy” at the bar.

The indecency charges stem from the alleged buttock squeeze and thigh rub, while the assault charge stems from an allegation Kearns twirled his second alleged victim’s hair and rubbed her shoulders while she was “trying to get away” from him.

Lieutenant Colonel Sean Kearns in Afghanistan. Picture: ADF

Military prosecutor Wing Commander Steven Whybrow said Kearns and the two women were part of a large group at the two ADFA student bars in September last year.

He said the second woman thought Kearns was “very intoxicated” when she allegedly saw him squeeze the first woman on the buttocks as one of the student bars, Sportos, was closing.

Wing Commander Whybrow said a military investigator only downloaded part of the night’s security camera footage from Sportos, and the footage had been automatically deleted by the time he realised his error.

The investigator forgot there were security cameras at the second student bar, the Be’er Sheeva bar, where the alleged thigh rub took place.

Australian Army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Kearns in Afghanistan. Picture: Gary Ramage

Australian Defence Force Academy educates hundreds of Australia’s future military leaders. Picture: Supplied/ADF

Giving evidence, the second woman said she “jerked my head away” when Kearns started “twirling” her hair.

She said she also jerked away from him when he allegedly started massaging her shoulders.

“He moved his hands to my thigh, and moved it in an up and down direction,” she said.

She said she “kind of froze and sat there” before again “jerking away” again.

“And that’s when he stopped touching me,” she said.

She said she thought the alleged buttock squeeze was “much more serious that what had happened to myself” but that she wanted the case “dealt with at the lowest level possible”.

Under cross-examination, she said she was certain she saw Kearns squeezing the other woman’s buttock, and agreed that she had been drinking on the night.

The hearing, before Defence Force Magistrate Brigadier Michael Cowen QC, continues.