Ex-Cricket Australia executive Tim Whittaker found guilty of sexually assaulting former colleagues
Tim Whittaker sobbed as he was found guilty of sexually assaulting his colleagues when they fell asleep on his couch as his lawyer fought for him not to be jailed.
Police & Courts
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Ex-Cricket Australia executive Tim Whittaker had been found guilty of sexually assaulting two former colleagues as his lawyer fights to keep him out of jail.
The 38-year-old, who was the long serving head of communications and a top executive at CA, sobbed in court after he was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of two counts of intentional sexual touching against two men in his Abbotsford apartment.
Both victims had told the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court they’d fallen asleep at Whittaker’s home after drunken nights out, and woken to find him touching their penises in separate incidents, in 2016 and 2019.
Magistrate Tim Gattuso handed down his finding of guilt on Thursday afternoon, stating he found both victims were credible witnesses.
Whittaker broke down in tears as his lawyer, high-profile defence barrister Dermott Dann KC, told the court how the case would forever haunt the former exec, noting that any internet searches of his name were “not going to be about his charity work”.
Mr Dann called for his client to be handed a community corrections order rather than an immediate jail term, citing his severe depression, anxiety and previous alcohol abuse.
In calling for leniency, Mr Dann noted the high pressure of Whittaker’s job at CA, including that he “had to be across” the horror periods during the ball tampering scandal, and the tragic on-field death of cricketer Phillip Hughes.
The magistrate adjourned the court early after asking Whittaker, who was sobbing in the front row, if he wanted a break.
His other lawyer, barrister Mark Sturges, handed him a tissue to dab his eyes.
In May, the court heard evidence from two former staff who told of seperate, and startlingly similar, incidents of sexual assault at Whittaker’s home.
In January 2016, the first man said he woke in Whittaker’s bed after a night out at the pub to the feeling of a hand moving under his underwear.
He said he looked to Whittaker, who had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily, and appeared to be asleep.
The man, who immediately left the apartment, said he gave Whittaker the “benefit of the doubt” until years later, when he “heard rumours of the same thing happening to others” and made a report.
Those rumours related to another CA colleague who passed out on Whittaker’s couch after an end of season function in March, 2019.
That man said he woke in Whittaker’s bed with his pants and underwear down, and a lewd act being performed on him, about 5.30am.
Whittaker was “pretending to be asleep”, but two minutes later, after the victim fled, he said he received a text from his abuser that said, “Yo, where are ya”.
The victim later called colleagues, reporting that “something really f**ked up happened at Tim’s”.
Whittaker, who now lives in Spring Hill in Queensland, has long protested his innocence to both claims and denied any touching ever occured.
He will return to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on June 5 for the continuation of his plea hearing, where victim impact statements will be read.
A Cricket Australia spokesperson said: “We are appalled by the serious sexual offences committed by former Cricket Australia staff member Tim Whittaker.”
“Our greatest concern continues to be for the wellbeing of his victims, who worked in Australian Cricket at the time the crimes were committed,” the spokesperson said.
“We will continue to support the victims as we have done since these offences came to our attention. We commend their bravery in coming forward to report these crimes and hope the verdict today provides them with a sense of vindication and closure.”
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