Edward Joseph Durante charged with rape, bail breach

A Mackay man has breached the conditions of his bail while he remains before the courts charged with rape. DETAILS.

A Mackay man charged with rape faced court for breaching the conditions of his bail while he waits for his other charge to be dealt with.

A magistrate has warned a Mackay man he will end up in jail awaiting the outcome of a rape charge if he continues to breach his bail conditions.

Edward Joseph Durante faced Mackay Magistrates Court on Wednesday after failing to report to justice officers on February 21 as per his bail conditions.

Mr Durante has not yet entered a plea to the rape charge which police allege stems from an unknown date between June 1 and July 13, 2021.

Defence lawyer Geoff Govey told the court while Mr Durante did fail to report, he did report the next day.

Edward Joseph Durante is charged with rape and was fined on March 13, 2023 for a bail breach while he awaits a court date. Photo: Zoe Devenport

Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Hutchins said Mr Durante had “certainly a long history” with recent breaches of bail.

Magistrate Damien Dwyer said dealing with the rape charge would take a long time and could be in “well and truly 12 months time”.

“If you don’t comply with your bail conditions, you will end up going into custody to wait the 12 months out,” Mr Dwyer said.

After being informed a conviction would not weigh on Mr Durante’s future matters, Mr Dwyer fined him $250 to be paid within 28 days and recorded a conviction against him.

Mr Durante’s rape charge was adjourned for mention to April 3.

Originally published as Edward Joseph Durante charged with rape, bail breach