November 16, 2012
A 21-year-old Kingaroy man charged with sexual offences involving a 14-year-old girl has been found not guilty after a week-long trial in the District Court in Kingaroy.
A jury returned its verdict this afternoon after deliberating overnight.
The man had been charged with two counts of indecent dealing and one count of carnal knowledge.
The Crown had alleged the accused had indecently touched the girl during an incident in a trolley bay at Kingaroy Shoppingworld in May last year, and then again at a house in Kingaroy in June 2011, where it was alleged he also had sex with her.
The jury found him not guilty on one count of indecent dealing, and not guilty of carnal knowledge; they returned no verdict on the second count of indecent dealing.
The court was told the girl had taken the day off school on the day the alleged second incident occurred. A total of 54 text messages had passed between the girl and the accused on that morning.
Later that day she met up with the accused again at Shoppingworld, which was captured on CCTV at the shopping centre.
Barrister Mr Harry Fong, for the accused, argued there was not sufficient time for the alleged offences to have occurred, and there was no DNA evidence that supported the Crown’s case.
