Jury finds Gregory Mark Nowland guilty of sickening child sex crimes before Toowoomba court
A Queensland man with strong connections to Toowoomba, Quiplie, and Blackall has been found guilty of sickening child sex crimes following a two-day trial.
Police & Courts
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An outback Queensland man with strong connections to Toowoomba and Quiplie has been jailed for historic child sex crimes.
Gregory Mark Nowland pleaded not guilty to the indecent treatment of a child under the age of 12 before a jury at the Toowoomba District Court on Tuesday, May 13.
After deliberating for about two hours, the Darling Downs jury members found the 61-year-old Blackall man guilty of two counts of the indecent treatment of a young child, following a two-day trial.
A majority of the jury members chose to stay in court for Nowland’s sentence on Thursday, May 15, when he was sentenced to a two-year jail term and two-year probation order.
The machine operator, who grew up on a cattle and sheep farm in Quiplie and attended Downlands College in Toowoomba, will be released from prison after serving 50 per cent of his sentence.
Upon his release, the child sex offender will be subject to parole for one year.
Crown Prosecutor Abby Kong said the crime was serious and involved skin on skin contact with a little girl’s genitals, noting he also tried to get the child to touch his penis.
Although the victim-survivor did not provide a victim impact statement to the courts, Ms Kong read statements from the now young woman’s parents.
The court heard Nowland, who at various points of time worked for Wagners Quarries and managed the Comongin Station ranch in Quilpie, had no criminal history.
Judge Craig Chowdhury presided over the trial and said, based on the evidence he himself was satisfied that Nowland committed the child sex crimes.
Nowland was sentenced to a two-year jail term and two two-year probation order.
He will be on the sex offender register for a decade.
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