Darwin region man charged with 162 counts of animal abuse will face Supreme Court trial

A man facing more than 200 charges, including multiple allegations of bestiality, will soon face a Supreme Court jury. Find out why we cannot identify the accused.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not yet entered a plea to a total of 223 charges against him, nearly three-quarters of which relate to animal cruelty. Picture: Glenn Campbell

A man from the fringes of the Darwin regional area has been charged with 162 counts of animal abuse, with investigators alleging he raped, committed animal cruelty and breached his duty of care to the creatures.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has not yet entered a plea to a total of 223 charges against him, nearly three-quarters of which relate to animal cruelty.

On Wednesday Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris committed the 51-year-old to face a jury trial in the Supreme Court, with a hearing set for March 9.

The trial will hear 74 charges against the Darwin region man, including 11 counts of sexual intercourse with an animal, 28 counts of using a carriage service to harass, and two charges of using a carriage service and possessing child abuse material.

A total of 149 charges against the man will remain in the Darwin Local Court, with a hearing set for May 9.

The lower local court charges include four counts of having sexual intercourse with an animal, and numerous animal cruelty and breach of duty of care to animal offences.

Any person found guilty of engaging in vaginal or anal intercourse with an animal is liable to imprisonment for up to three years, under the bestiality provision of the Criminal Code.

The NT Sexual Offences Act rules that the names of people charged with sexual offences cannot be released until they have been committed to appear in the Supreme Court. Picture: Jason Walls

The NT Sexual Offences Act rules that the names of people charged with sexual offences cannot be released until they have been committed to appear in the Supreme Court.

However, a non-publication order has been extended forbidding the release of the 51-year-old’s name, alongside any witnesses.

On Wednesday Ms Morris maintained the suppression on the man’s identity and the details of the allegations against him, but allowed reporting of the charges.

When he first appeared in April, all details of the case were suppressed with the court told the alleged facts were so depraved they would “offend against public decency” if published.

Judge Elizabeth Morris maintained the suppression on the man’s identity and the details of the allegations against him, but allowed reporting of the bare facts. Picture: Che Chorley

Last year, Judge Alan Woodcock placed a suppression order on the bestiality case forbidding the publication of any evidence, account or record until March, 2023.

In August last year this publication applied to lift suppression orders surrounding the case under the principles of open justice, however it was rejected on the basis the orders were needed to ensure the man could be given a fair trial.

At the time Ms Morris said her ruling was less about “protecting the public” than “protecting the rights of the defendant, because the allegations were abhorrent”.

The 51-year-old will remain in prison on remand until his upcoming court hearings in March and May.

Originally published as Darwin region man charged with 162 counts of animal abuse will face Supreme Court trial