Chief Petty Officer Ashley Hoogwerf denies indecency allegations at Defence Force Magistrates Court
A sailor accused of indecent acts against a man under his command, including putting a screwdriver between his buttocks, has denied the allegations, telling a court the alleged victim was “disgruntled” after receiving formal warnings.
Canberra Star
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A sailor who is charged with committing acts of indecency against a man previously in his chain of command, including putting a screwdriver in his buttocks, has taken to the witness stand to deny the allegations.
Chief Petty Officer Ashley Hoogwerf is on trial at the Defence Force Magistrates Court in Canberra after pleading not guilty to two counts of an act of indecency without consent and two counts of assaulting a subordinate.
A former sailor, from Tasmania, has accused CPO Hoogwerf of repeatedly spanking him on the job, putting a screwdriver between his buttocks, humping the back of his head and rubbing his face and beard in the man’s face while at sea in May 2019.
During the second day of the trial a number of other senior sailors gave evidence to the court.
None of the sailors said they had heard allegations about CPO Hoogwerf assaulting the complainant.
One sailor told the military court the alleged victim was “impulsive in the way he would verbalise about orders he was given”.
“While he was nice enough to me he caused rifts between the team,” he said. “I think his outspokenness held him back a bit.”
The court was played an interview between military police and CPO Hoogwerf from March 2022 where he was asked about his relationship to the complainant.
He told service police he initially had a good working relationship with the former sailor, but their relationship diminished in the aftermath of the complainant getting a formal warning for an alcohol related incident.
“(After the formal warning) he did become disgruntled toward me,” CPO Hoogwerf said.
“(The complainant) was a high functioning sailor but because of two alcohol incidents he had shot himself in the foot. I told him he brought it upon himself. He needed to keep his nose clean for deployment.”
He said following the formal warning he and other supervisors in the unit “didn’t push” to keep the complainant in the team.
CPO Hoogwerf told police the unit was a “happy bunch” and said he didn’t see any inappropriate behaviour while at sea.
When asked if he could recall any of the incidents he allegedly committed, CPO Hoogwerf told military police he couldn’t recall any occasion, and denied any wrongdoing.
While giving evidence in the witness box on Tuesday CPO Hoogwerf said the allegations were false, and said he only heard about what was being said against him when he was interviewed by military police.
Another sailor gave evidence as a defence witness and said the complainant had been insubordinate.
He said one time, while protesting an order, the complainant was heard saying “look at me, I’m a f**king idiot, I’m making dumb decisions” while performing a task.
The defence witness said this statement was belittling to the people who had made certain decisions above him.
The trial continues.
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