Jury finds former bowls coach Daniel Norman Hatton guilty of abusing one boy, not guilty of abusing another

A jury has found a former lawn bowls coach guilty of sexually abusing one boy while acquitting him of charges he molested a second boy more than a decade ago.

Daniel Norman Hatton was found guilty of four charges and was acquitted of four others following a Newcastle District Court trial.​

A former junior bowls coach and cricket umpire is behind bars awaiting sentence after a jury found him guilty of sexually abusing a boy more than a decade ago.

Daniel Norman Hatton, now aged 55, had faced eight charges relating to two boys during a Newcastle District Court trial earlier this month.

But after deliberating for several days, the jury returned on Friday afternoon with four guilty verdicts and four not guilty verdicts.

The four charges Hatton was acquitted of – two counts of aggravated sexual intercourse with a person aged between 10 and 14 and one count each of assault person with into the commit a serious indictable offence and indecent assault of a person under 16 – related to one of the victims.

And the four guilty verdicts – two counts each of aggravated sexual intercourse with a person aged 10-14 and two counts of indecent assault person under 16 – related to a second boy.

Daniel Norman Hatton was found guilty of four charges and was acquitted of four others following a Newcastle District Court trial.

The court had heard the allegations stemmed from alleged offences committed in 2011 when Hatton was a junior bowls coach in Lake Macquarie.

Hatton, who had moved to the small town of Gin Gin and was arrested by Lake Macquarie detectives in Dubbo in 2021, had been on bail during his trial.

Following the four guilty verdicts, Judge Traill revoked his bail and placed in him in custody on remand.

The matter will be mentioned on April 6 where a sentence date will be set.