Gold Coast man John William Chardon fails to wipe child sex conviction

A GOLD Coast man jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the late 1990s has failed in a bid to overturn his conviction.

John Chardon, husband of missing Gold Coast woman Novy Chardon, leaves Southport Watchhouse on bail after appearing on rape charges.

A GOLD Coast man jailed for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in the late 1990s has failed in a bid to overturn his conviction.

John William Chardon — whose wife Novy has been missing since 2013 — had his legal challenge dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Brisbane on Tuesday.

It comes more than a year after he was found guilty and sentenced to six years imprisonment for child sex offences, eligible for parole after three.

The initial trial heard Chardon began assaulting a girl around the time of her 15th birthday, cornering her at a sleepover before molesting her.

Evidence heard at trial suggested this started a string of sexual interactions, including penetrative intercourse in a spare room after Chardon had enlisted the girl as a housemaid.

The victim, who was almost 30 at the time of the trial, recalled “just saying no” and “sobbing” throughout this encounter.

The jury heard the girl, then aged 17, later signed written documents agreeing to have sex with Chardon for money before ceasing contact in 2003.

Chardon launched an appeal in April against his eventual conviction on multiple grounds.

He claimed there had been a miscarriage of justice in that the verdicts were against the weight of evidence and accused the judge of failing to direct or summarise the defence case properly to the jury.

Justice Margaret McMurdo disagreed, finding the jury were open to accept the complainant’s version of events beyond reasonable doubt.

She also found the judge had “fairly placed” the defence case before them.

Rejecting the other two grounds of appeal, she said she was “unpersuaded” that there had been a miscarriage of justice and dismissed the suggestion the woman gave a false testimony at trial. Mystery still surrounds the disappearance of Chardon’s wife Novy, last seen in February 2013 when caught on security footage paying for fuel at a Gold Coast service station.

Her car was discovered at a train station in Nerang days later but her body has never been found.