Steven Lees found guilty in Coffs Harbour court after sexual intercourse with child trial

After a two-week trial and seven hours of deliberation a jury has found a Mid-North Coast man guilty of raping a child on several occasions. Get the background story on the case.

Coffs Harbour courthouse

A jury has returned a guilty verdict in the child rape trial of a Coffs Harbour man who previously told police he would deny the allegations “until the day I die”.

After a two week trial and just over seven hours of deliberation, guilty verdicts on all three charges of having sexual intercourse with a child under 10 were delivered.

The trial began on June 30 before Judge Michael McHugh.

At one point the jury heard evidence from a woman who lived next door to the child victim, who she said came to her in early 2021 and said “I have to tell an adult I trust”.

The witness said the girl told her “don’t tell anyone” and later asked “will he (Lees) get in trouble?”.

According to the witness the girl told her that Lees “put his fingers inside me and it hurt”.

After hearing this she told the victim it was “not a secret I could keep”.

Steven Lees walks in to Coffs Harbour District Court on July 8, 2025 during his trial.

“It shocked me – it’s one of those things you never forget,” she told the jury.

At one point during her evidence the witness said, unprompted, that “everyone liked Steven” but Judge McHugh reminded her to stick to answering the questions posed to her.

The jury later heard from Lees’ defence lawyer that the same elderly female witness had a history of encouraging younger people to make false sexual assault allegations.

In summing up Judge Michael McHugh told the jury they were not there to “go after” the woman.

Mr McHugh also told the jury they were there to determine if, beyond reasonable doubt, Lees committed the offences.

Lees’ defence lawyer also relied on what he described to the jury as a genuine backdown in the complainant’s evidence when she said she could not be sure if it was Lees who had assaulted her.

The Crown asserted the girl had been coerced into making the backdown.

However, Lees’ defence pointed the jury to a Snapchat message sent to a young friend saying she was no longer sure if it was Lees, and that the young girl would not be “so sophisticated to create a false paper trail”.

“This (the message) was a genuine friend to friend message saying I am changing what I said,” the defence lawyer said.

Lees did not give evidence at the trial but the jury heard that, in a statement to police, he said he would deny the allegations against him “until the day I die”.

The jury also heard Lees had not been charged with any sexual assault offences in the past.

Lees, who had been on bail, was then taken into custody to await sentencing scheduled for October 3.

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Originally published as Steven Lees found guilty in Coffs Harbour court after sexual intercourse with child trial