Andrew Ralston found not guilty of child sex offences in Queanbeyan court

A registered sex offender, with a background in law enforcement, has been found not guilty of two child sex offence charges in Queanbeyan Local Court. Find out why.

A registered sex offender has been found not guilty of two counts of doing a sex act with a child between 10 and 16.

Queanbeyan man Andrew Ralston faced the Queanbeyan Local Court for hearing on Wednesday where a teenage girl gave evidence against him.

The 15-year-old complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court Ralston constantly stared at her when she was playing outside.

The court was shown a recorded interview of the teenager dating from September last year where she detailed two alleged incidents, one time where Ralston allegedly lifted his shirt and blew kisses at her, and another time where she alleged the man looked down her shirt.

“It’s just creepy,” she said during the police interview.

“Someone old enough to be your father is doing it every day of the week.

“It doesn’t matter if you ignore it.”

At one point of the recorded interview the girl, who was in tears, told police interviewers: “I just want to live my life.”

Andrew Ralston (right) leaves Queanbeyan Court with lawyer Luke Vozella (left) on May 11, 2022. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

However under cross examination the girl made numerous concessions to her evidence.

At one point defence lawyer Luke Vozella asked the girl if it was possible she had imagined one of the alleged incidents happening.

“Yeah,” she responded.

“My mind plays tricks on me sometimes.

“I’m not trying to tell a lie.”

In closing remarks Mr Vozella said the “incoherence was laid bare” in the original police video.

Magistrate Roger Clisdell ultimately found Ralston not guilty of the two charges.

Following this Mr Clisdell dealt with two separate charges of failing to comply with reporting obligations while on the Child Sex Offender Registry in relation to making two social media accounts under false name.

Andrew Ralston pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to comply with the Child Sex Offender Registry’s reporting obligations. Picture: Julia Kanapathippillai

Ralston had pleaded guilty to both of these charges during his last court appearance in March.

The court heard Ralston was placed on the Child Sex Offender register after he was convicted of using a carriage service to groom a child under 16 in the ACT.

Mr Clisdell sentenced Ralston to six months imprisonment.

The sentence was backdated to August 2021 and because Ralston had spent seven months remanded in custody he was free to leave.

“(Ralston) has a background in law enforcement,” Mr Clisdell said.

“So he should have been wise.

“If he does this again, he’s going back in.”