Joshua Carl Dawson found not guilty in Toowoomba District Court of raping a heavily intoxicated teenager
A Toowoomba and Townsville region man has been found not guilty of raping a heavily intoxicated teenager.
A regional Queensland jury found a 33-year-old man not guilty of raping an intoxicated teenager.
The Toowoomba and Townsville region man Joshua Carl Dawson pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape on Tuesday, February 4, at the beginning of a two-day trial before Judge John Allen KC.
The jury found Mr Dawson not guilty on Thursday morning after deliberating for a few hours.
The Toowoomba District court heard the complainant was a 15-year-old girl who said Mr Dawson had encouraged her to drink before the alleged rape occurred during a barbecue in the Toowoomba region.
The court heard the allegation came to light sometime later when the girl’s mother was sent a social media post her daughter made about being allegedly being raped by a 28-year-old man.
During her cross-examination, the young woman said originally didn’t come forward because she blamed herself, and that no one had held her mouth open and forced her to drink the shots.
Mr Dawson was represented by leading Brisbane barrister James Godbolt.
In his closing address to the jury, Mr Godbolt said nothing happened between the pair and the girl was stuck in lies she told her parents after they gave her an ultimatum – let the police deal with it or we kill him.
He questioned if the rape occurred, then why did the girl not call out for help, especially given others would have been nearby.
Mr Godbolt said if an allegation was all it took to convict someone of rape then everyone in the room was in trouble.
He said rape allegations were akin to “letting a genie out of the bottle,” and once a child says they’ve been raped, “you end up here”.
“If you bring back that idea of the criminal standard and proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the only proper verdict in this case is not guilty,” he said.
During the two-day trial, the complainant gave evidence, as did her parents, and Mr Dawson’s ex-wife.
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Originally published as Joshua Carl Dawson found not guilty in Toowoomba District Court of raping a heavily intoxicated teenager
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