Kent Rowe found guilty of sexual assault of family member

A jury has returned its verdict in the trial of prominent Top End resident Kent Rowe, finding he sexually assaulted a family member.

A jury has found Kent Rowe guilty of sexual assaulting a female family member.

The abuse-survivor wiped away tears and smiled at her supporters as the weight of the guilty verdict fell on the Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon.

The verdict was delivered almost exactly 24-hours after the jury retired following a six-day trial before Chief Justice Michael Grant.

The prominent former Labor government staffer was found guilty of sexual assault of a family member.

Kent was remanded in custody until October 6 when he will return for a sentencing hearing.

Rowe was the director of parliament caucus liaison and stakeholder engagement until he resigned over the ‘cocaine sex’ scandal in February last year.

He stepped down following the allegations.

There is no suggestion Rowe took cocaine.

During the course of the six-day trial, his victim told the court Rowe repeatedly molested her.

She said she once woke up to find him touching her and felt “disgusted and dirty”.

In his closing remarks to the jury on Tuesday, Justice Grant quoted from the woman’s statement to police, in which she described the “worst and the most extreme abuse”.

“Discussing it was humiliating for her,” he said.

Kent Rowe Case

The woman disclosed the abuse to close loved ones as far back as a decade ago, and had confronted Rowe in 2014, 2018 and 2021.

However, she did not go to police until years later.

“She was concerned at that point in time that she would lose her family if she went to police,” Justice Grant said.

The court heard a recorded telephone conversation between Rowe and the woman in 2021, in which he said: “What I did was abhorrent and I’m working to fix it.”

Kent Rowe verdict

“I’m sorry for what I did to you. I’m sorry I did those things to you,” Rowe said.

“I’m taking full responsibility for the absolutely f — ked actions that I did back then.”

Justice Grant said in the call the woman accused Rowe of trying to play the victim and deflect responsibility.

When the woman said to Rowe, “That was not inappropriate, that was rape”, he responded “Yeah, I am not deflecting”.

Kent Rowe verdict

The Crown had argued the call was an admission of guilt by not denying accusations, but Rowe’s defence had argued he did not interrupt as he did not want to be “shouted down” by the woman.

Crown Prosecutor Tamara Grealy said Rowe once told the woman that the incidents were “something that they shared”.

“He tried to make it her shame as well,” Ms Grealy said.

Rowe will return to the Supreme Court in Darwin on October 6 for a sentencing hearing.