Jury deliver guilty, not guilty and hung decision in sex assault trial of Illawarra pizza boy

A jury has taken more than 16 hours to hand down its decision in the trial of an Illawarra pizza boy charged with multiple sex crimes against a 14-year-old girl.

OS leaving Wollongong District Court during the trial. Picture: Dylan Arvela

An Illawarra pizza boy charged with three counts of sexual assault against a 14-year-old girl has been found not guilty of two of the charges.

The jury spent nearly 17 hours deliberating before reaching a hung decision on the third count.

The man in his 20s, who can only be referred to by the pseudonym OS, stood trial in Wollongong District Court this month after previously pleading not guilty to three counts of aggravated sexual assault.

OS also previously pleaded not guilty to having sex with a child, intentionally inciting a child to do a sexual act, intentionally doing a sexual act with a child and possessing child abuse material.

When handing down their verdicts on Thursday, the jury found OS guilty of possessing child abuse material.

The jury found him not guilty of inciting a child to do a sexual act and intentionally doing a sexual act with a child, however, they could not reach a decision on a further charge of having sex with a child.

The trial was heard over two weeks in Wollongong District Court.

Crown prosecutor Tim George told the jury during his opening submissions OS was an employee at a pizza shop in the Illawarra and had met the complainant via Snapchat in the second half of 2022.

The court heard OS allegedly went over to the girl’s home while her parents were away before kissing her, sticking his tongue inside her vagina and digitally penetrating her vagina.

Mr George said after OS left, the girl told a friend what allegedly happened who also relayed it to another friend.

The court heard a sexual assault review at Wollongong Hospital found no traces of male DNA in the girl’s vagina, however, OS’s DNA was allegedly found on her clothing.

He also submitted OS allegedly called the girl about a week later and said “she was right about everything” and how he was “sorry”.

Mr George also detailed allegations from other incidents around this period including forcing her to suck his penis in his car, digitally penetrating her near her house and sending her a picture of his penis on Snapchat which was taken in the pizza shop bathroom.

OS denied the allegations against him with his barrister Tom Hughes telling the court there was a “big issue” with the “credibility, reliability and acceptability” of the complainant.

The charges where the jury were unable to reach a verdict will be mentioned in Wollongong District Court on December 3 and could be the subject of a retrial.

OS will be sentenced by Judge Christopher O’Brien for possessing child abuse material on December 18.

This charge related to naked pictures found by police on the offender’s phone.

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