John Jacob Kelly fronts Shepparton Magistrates’ Court after allegedly raping a minor
An alleged Goulburn Valley child rapist has fronted the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court, with a magistrate telling him to “get fair dinkum” about the seriousness of the charges.
Goulburn Valley
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An alleged child rapist has been chastised by a magistrate in court for not taking the matter seriously.
John Jacob Kelly, 24, appeared at the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on March 26 where it was alleged Mr Kelly raped a minor at Cobram between June and July 2022.
Police also allege that Mr Kelly attempted to pervert the course of justice by sending a number of messages to the complainant asking her to change her evidence.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski was flabbergasted that Mr Kelly’s matter had not progressed since he was charged on January 31, 2023.
“If I had been in charge of this matter earlier you would’ve gone straight to county (court)”, he said.
“It is preposterous in charges like this that we have not had a committal yet.”
Mr Zebrowski asked Mr Kelly why the matter had not proceeded to committal yet, and Mr Kelly replied that he had not had a mobile phone.
Mr Zebrowski then told Mr Kelly to “get fair dinkum” about the seriousness of his charges, before saying “don’t bury your head in the sand”.
He warned Mr Kelly that this matter would be a “straight hand up brief to the County Court” if the matter was not resolved at his next court date.
Mr Kelly was remanded to appear in the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court on April 30 for a committal mention.
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