Maryborough granddad accused of sex abuse found not guilty

A grandfather, who was accused of sexually abusing three of his granddaughters, has been found not guilty by a jury.

Maryborough Court House.Photo: Alistair Brightman

A Maryborough granddad accused of sexually abusing three of his granddaughters has been found not guilty by a jury.

The 52-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to six counts of indecent treatment of a child when he faced Maryborough District Court last week.

The charges related to alleged offences against three of his granddaughters.

During the trial, the court heard the man, who represented himself during proceedings, was a trusted grandfather who regularly cared for his grandchildren at his Maryborough home.

However, when one of the girls was taken into foster care, she allegedly told one of her foster parents about an incident of abuse involving her grandfather.

Two other girls, her cousins, later also made accusations about being made to inappropriately touch their grandfather.

The first girl said when she was aged between two or four, the grandfather had forced her to touch him inappropriately while her grandmother was at bingo.

When the second granddaughter made claims about the grandfather’s alleged abuse, the court heard her mother called her sister, who then sat down with her children and asked if anyone had ever touched them inappropriately.

Her daughter then told her that “Poppy” had touched her, the court was told.

The 52-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found not guilty of six counts of indecent treatment of a child.

The two girls and their mothers had then gone to the grandfather’s home and confronted him, the court heard.

He had denied any wrongdoing and the mothers had then taken their children to the police station.

During the prosecution’s opening statement, the court heard the grandfather’s private parts had been described as “hairy” by one of the children and that one of the incidents of abuse had occurred while he was wearing pyjamas.

His estranged wife was called as a witness to answer questions about what she remembered from that time.

She said she did care for the children at times and they would sometimes stay the night.

The children had often come to bingo with her, she said, or were in the company of babysitters when she went by herself.

The woman recalled the day her daughters had arrived with her granddaughters to speak to the man about the alleged abuse.

She said she had heard about the accusations from her daughters, not from her granddaughters.

The man then cross-examined his estranged wife.

He asked her whether his private area was hairy to which she replied it had not been “ever since I met him”.

The man asked if she had ever seen him wearing pyjamas and she said she hadn’t.

The jury returned its verdict of not guilty on Friday.

Originally published as Maryborough granddad accused of sex abuse found not guilty