Man, 68, found guilty at trial in Toowoomba District Court of indecent treatment of girl back in mid-1980s

The 68-year-old had pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial and his barrister argued he didn’t have to be jailed. See what happened.

A 68-year-old Toowoomba man who denied indecently touching a then 13-year-old girl in the mid-1980s has been found guilty and jailed.

The man, who cannot be named so as to protect the identity of his victim, pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and one count of attempted rape or in the alternative indecent treatment of a child under 16 on the first day of his trial in Toowoomba District Court on Monday.

Crown prosecutor Emily Coley told the court the now 50-year-old complainant said the incidents dated back to 1985 and 1986 when she was about 13 and living on a property west of Toowoomba.

The jury retired to consider a verdict about 1pm Wednesday and returned with a verdict about four hours later, convicting the man of two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

Those offences related to one incident where the man put the girl’s hand on his penis when he was naked and she was clothed.

She had pulled her hand away in shock, the court was told.

She had then been taken to his bedroom where her clothes were taken off and he pressed himself against her, the court was told.

By putting the complainant woman through a trial, where she had to relive the trauma through giving evidence, the convicted man had shown no remorse, Judge David Kent KC said.

He said it was a serious example of indecent treatment of a child, however, at the time of the offences, the maximum penalty was five years.

The man’s barrister Andrew Hoare told the court his client was caring for his wife at home outside Toowoomba and if he was jailed she would need in-home care which would negatively impact on her life.

Judge Kent said he had agonised over whether, in this case, there were exceptional circumstances, meaning the man would not have to serve actual jail time, but he found some time in custody was warranted.

Judge Kent sentenced the man to 12 months in jail, the term to be suspended after he has served two months, with the balance to hang over his head for two years.