Kendall: Court suppresses identity of one of two men charged with 431 heinous child sex crimes
An online post threatening to ‘burn the house down’ of one of two men charged with 431 child sex offences dating back to 2011 has triggered a court order suppressing his identity. The Facebook posts, tendered in court, also reveal personal information identifying his alleged victim and family’s address.
Mid-North Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mid-North Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Grocery store guard charged with procuring girl, 14, for sex
- Witnesses to be called in $25k insurance case
A violent online post targeted at an alleged child sex offender, and other personal information revealing the address of the alleged victim and their family, have triggered a court order suppressing the identity of one of two men charged with 431 child sex offences in Kendall.
Lawyer acting for one of the co-accused today, Douglas Hannaway, submitted evidence in Port Macquarie Local Court containing online posts that could potentially reveal the identity of victims and their family, as well as pose a possible threat to their safety.
One of the online posts, which was made in response to a media story about the case, allegedly makes threats to burn down the house of one the accused.
“I can tell you I have seen some of the Facebook posts that have been sent to me,” Mr Hannaway said, prior to tendering the evidence.
“On the second page of the document, [a comment reads] ‘If it wasn’t evidence I’d burn the house down.’
Mr Hannaway told the court an address was also allegedly revealed.
“[Suppressed] lives two doors up – it says in there a statement of where the children go to school, it‘s up to satisfying this test [of non-publication].”
In her assessment of the application, Magistrate Georgina Darcy questioned its validity - stating that it lacked substance.
“If it is your application you need to provide me with more than just screenshots,” Magistrate Darcy said.
“I need to see an affidavit ... I can‘t make any sense of just screenshots.
“There is provision in the act for an interim order to be made pending determination of the merits of the application.
“I may make an interim order until the application has been determined,” Ms Darcy said, which will be at Wauchope Local Court on November 3.
The accused and his co-accused, Timothy Luke Doyle, 26, did not appear in court today.
They are facing 431 charges in relation to a countless alleged child sex offences that occurred between 2011 and 2020 on the Mid-North-Coast.
Doyle is facing 300 charges, the other 131 charges.
It is alleged the youngest victim was aged just one at the time of the offending.
The two men were arrested in June following a tip-off from the United States’ National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children to the AFP’s Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).
Electronic items, including a laptop, were seized during the raids.
Doyle and the co-accused were due to appear in court last month, however the matter was adjourned to today to allow police more time to lay the additional charges.
Police will now prepare a brief of evidence to be served on November 19 when the matter returns to court.
They are facing a number of serious allegations including multiple counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 years old, as well as possession of child pornography material.
The charges relate to allegations of sexual intercourse with a children aged under 10, the use of a child to make child abuse material under 14, and indecent assault of a person under 16.
Neither party has entered a plea. The matter will return to court next month.