James Lithgow rape case: Court of Appeal finds no reasonable basis for the jury to arrive at its split verdict

A 47-year-old man who was sentenced to jail for the rape and sexual assault of a 19-year-old Japanese tourist in Halls Gap has had his convictions quashed in the Victorian Court of Appeal.

The alleged rape happened at an Airbnb in Halls Gap in 2018.

An Airbnb superhost found guilty of raping a young Japanese backpacker at his rural property will walk free from jail after his convictions were quashed on appeal.

James Lithgow, 47, was jailed for 6½ years with a non-parole period of four years after he was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting the then 19-year-old at his Halls Gap home stay in 2018.

He was acquitted of attempted rape and false imprisonment.

On Tuesday, the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed Lithgow’s convictions after finding it was unreasonable for the jury to convict him on some charges while acquitting him of others.

The prosecution case relied on, almost solely, the evidence of the complainant who alleged Lithgow groped and kissed her before taking her into a caravan where he twice raped her.

Lithgow’s account differed significantly and claimed they consensually hugged and kissed but stopped after the teen revealed she had a boyfriend and became upset.

Justices Lesley Taylor, Stephen Kaye AM and Terence Forrest found the woman’s evidence, which was that she never consented and resisted Lithgow’s advances, was consistent in respect to all charges and there could be no reasonable basis for the jury to arrive at its split verdict.

“Quite plainly, if the jury was satisfied, beyond reasonable doubt, as to the credibility and reliability of the complainant on the evidence she gave in respect of each of the charges, it was required to convict the applicant of those offences,” they said in their written reasons.

“No reasonable jury, which had applied its mind properly to the facts and issues of the case, could have arrived at the conclusion reflected by those verdicts.”

They quashed the convictions and ordered verdicts of acquittal to be returned on the charges.

It means Lithgow, who has spent about 19 months behind bars, will be released from custody.

Lithgow was found guilty by a County Court jury in August 2023.

His trial heard the teenager and her boyfriend arrived in Australia on a working holiday in September 2018.

The woman took up an online job posting by Lithgow to clean his 11-person Airbnb property near Halls Gap in western Victoria.

She caught a train by herself from Melbourne to Ararat before Lithgow picked her up and drove to the property where they drank wine.

The woman alleged she was drunk before Lithgow pushed her into a chair outside his caravan and began groping and kissing her.

He allegedly took her into the caravan where he raped her twice before falling asleep.

The woman alerted her boyfriend who met her at the property the following day before they called police.