48-year-old Geraldton man found guilty of raping and doing sexual acts against ex-partner’s child under 13

A Geraldton man has been found guilty of sexually abusing his ex-partner’s daughter between the ages of six and eight and is now behind bars ahead of his sentencing later this month. The 48-year-old, who is not named for legal reasons, stood trial in Geraldton District Court last week after pleading not guilty to performing sexual acts with his former partner’s daughter, now 14, multiple times between March 2004 and February 2006 in Utakarra. A jury came to a decision on Friday after deliberating since Thursday afternoon, acquitting the man of two of the six charges and convicting him of the remaining four counts. He was convicted of two counts of sexual penetration of a child under 13, one count of indecent dealing with a child under 13 and being a person who persistently engaged in sexual conduct with a child under 16. He was acquitted of one count of indecent dealing with a child under 13 and sexual penetration of a child under 13. The defence case was that the now 14-year-old girl’s evidence, which included three video interviews from 2021 and a live video cross-examination, was not credible. But the prosecution argued the girl’s evidence was “honest” and “compelling” and demonstrated offending that was “clearly” ongoing and persistent. During the police interview with the offender, he denied any sexual activity during that period. He spoke about how he couldn’t stand the victim, stating he “only hit her, that’s it”. Judge Martin Flynn told the jury in his closing remarks they needed to consider whether the relationship between the two could have created a possible motive for a complaint. The jury was also reminded they needed to consider the accused man may have found a sexual interest and acted on it, or that the young girl’s memory could be clouded. The judge explained the accused was disadvantaged due to the length of time between the alleged offending and that the ability to test the evidence was lost. The man was remanded in custody until he sentencing by video link from Greenough Prison on September 29.