Ex-cop Jim Morakis found not guilty of harassment after woman alleged he used fake LinkedIn accounts to harass her

A former Melbourne police officer accused of harassing a woman using fake social media accounts has had the charges dismissed.

Former Senior Constable Jim Morakis was accused of harassing a woman using fake social media accounts has had the charges dismissed.

A former police officer accused of harassing a woman with nasty social media posts from fake accounts has had the charge dismissed.

Former senior constable Jim Morakis fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on December 2 on one charge of using a carriage service in a way that a reasonable person would regard as menacing, harassing or offensive.

Mr Morakis pleaded not guilty to the charge in October, where the court heard a female member of the police force had reported several damaging LinkedIn posts on pages relating to her work area, which specifically targeted her and her partner.

The posts – made over three days in June 2023 – came from two confirmed fake accounts, leaving the woman feeling “disgusted” and “mortified”.

In October, the court heard police conducted a raid on Mr Morakis’ Moorabbin home in August 2023, where they seized an iPhone and laptop from his bedroom.

In evidence heard from a forensic analyst and the police informant, both devices were analysed and had IP searches conducted on them through Optus.

The woman said two accounts using fake names posted “damaging” comments about her and her partner over three days in 2023

Police said one of the fake accounts was attached to an IP address owned by Mr Morakis’ father, who lived at the Moorabbin address with Mr Morakis.

The other account had an encrypted IP address, stopping police from locating its source.

The court heard further police investigations found one of the accounts – where the owner purported to work for National Australia Bank – was confirmed fake after liaisons with the major bank revealed nobody with the name had ever worked there.

On Monday, Magistrate Leon Fluxham found Mr Morakis not guilty of being offensive, or of harassing or menacing the complainant, despite finding “no reasonable alternative” that anyone else was behind the posts.

“I’m satisfied beyond reasonable doubt it was the accused who posted on the LinkedIn accounts,” Mr Fluxham said.

“The accused’s laptop was seized from his residence and there is no evidence anyone else used it.

“There is no credible suggestion it was the accused’s elderly father who posted the posts.”

The devil was in the detail for Mr Fluxham, as he went to the definition of menacing, harassment and offensive.

“There is not enough evidence to surmount the requirement that it was harassing,” Mr Fluxham said.

“The posts were not menacing and don’t meet the degree to be termed offensive.

“This doesn’t warrant criminal prosecution.”

Consequently, Mr Fluxham found Mr Morakis not guilty and dismissed the charge.