Australia-Foster Father caseUPDATED
From Canberra, Australia, a 35-year-old foster parent has been “accused of repeated sex with his 14-year-old foster daughter has gone on trial in the ACT Supreme Court.”
“Prosecutors say the teenage girl became ‘‘infatuated’’ with her 35-year-old foster father, who cannot be named, and told friends she was in love with him.The pair allegedly began having sex in 2010, while the foster mother was away from the home.The court heard the girl had come home from school upset, following an argument at school.
The Crown alleges the foster father began to comfort her, then kissed her on the lips.
The girl is said to have recoiled, and pulled away, but the man allegedly kissed her again, taking her clothes off, and performing oral sex on her.
Prosecutor Anthony Williamson said the man then attempted to have sex with her.
That was allegedly the start of a sexual relationship that went on between 2010 and 2011, while the girl was 14 and 15.
The foster father is now facing 12 charges and went on trial before a jury in the ACT Supreme Court on Friday.
‘‘We say that the accused felt sexual urges towards [name removed] who was at the time an attractive teenage girl,’’ Mr Williamson told the jury.
The Crown says the man warned her that if anyone found out about their relationship, she should ‘‘deny, deny, deny’’.
It is alleged the man emotionally blackmailed the girl, telling her he would kill himself if she told anyone.
The man is fighting the charges and his barrister James Sabharwal told the jury that they must take great care when listening to the girl’s evidence.
Mr Sabharwal asked the jury members to put their views about the nature of the allegations to one side.
‘‘This is not the place for you to express those views,’’ Mr Sabharwal said.
‘‘Your duty in this case is to assess the evidence and do so fairly.’’
The trial, which the Crown warned was not going to be ‘‘particularly pleasant’’, continues on Friday afternoon before Justice Richard Refshauge.”
Foster father accused of sex with teenage girl in his care[The Canberra Times 3/28/14 by Christopher Knaus]
REFORM Puzzle Piece
Update: “A teenage girl whose foster father allegedly had repeated sex with her told police she hid the relationship from her foster mother because she was “the only family I’ve ever had”.
The foster father, a 35-year-old who cannot be named, is on trial for having sex with his foster daughter in 2010 and 2011, when she was aged 14 and 15.
He has maintained his innocence and is fighting 12 charges in the ACT Supreme Court.
The court heard the pair allegedly began having sex in 2010, when the girl came home upset from school.
Her foster father is alleged to have comforted her, kissed her on the lips, and then taken off her clothes before performing sexual acts on her.
An alleged sexual relationship began, and the girl said the pair was having sex on a daily basis at one point, while her foster mother was not at home.
Recordings of the girl’s interviews with police were played to the jury again on Tuesday.
The girl told police of one occasion where her father asked to film the sex, but she refused because she didn’t want anyone to find out, particularly her foster mother.
A detective asked her why she didn’t want her mother to find out.
“Because [name removed] is the only family I’ve ever had,” the girl said.
“She’s the only person who ever gave a s–t about me.
“She was like a mum to me pretty much, that’s the only way I can explain it.”
The girl eventually told police, because she said her foster father was painting her as a liar and as crazy to his wife.
The teenager said in the interview that her foster father had threatened to commit suicide if she told anyone about their sexual relationship.
“He kept telling me if I ever told anyone it would be the death of him, he would kill himself and it would ruin the family,” she said.
She estimated the pair had sex more than 20 times, and told police that sometimes she felt like she had to consent because she was scared.
At one point, police asked her whether she was making up the allegations because she was jealous of her foster mother’s relationship with the man.
The girl denied that, saying:
“I could never imagine myself with someone who’s like that, so arrogant and rude.”
The trial continues before Justice Richard Refshauge on Tuesday afternoon.”
[Canberra Times 4/1/14 by Christpher Knaus]
“A Canberra foster father told police he suffered from erectile dysfunction and could not have had sex with the teenage girl in his care.
The 35-year-old man, who cannot be named, is facing 12 charges relating to an alleged sexual relationship with his foster daughter when she was aged 14 and 15.
The Crown alleges the pair began having sex while the foster mother was away from the house.
The girl told police they were having sex almost daily at one point.
She claims he emotionally blackmailed her, telling her he would kill himself if she ever told anyone.
She told police he told her to ”deny, deny, deny” if anyone ever found out about the sex.
But the father, in a record of interview with ACT Policing detectives, denied the allegations.
He said he suffered from erectile dysfunction and needed medication.
The man said he hadn’t taken the medication since the beginning of 2010, and would not have been able to maintain an erection.
”It’s quite embarrassing because I’m 34 and I’ve been living with it for a few years, and I don’t think many guys would go and talk about it,” he told police.
”So that’s the reason why this is not possible, because of my erectile dysfunction.”
He told police he had records from a medical institute showing he had paid for a treatment of mouth lozenges and nasal spray, and also a doctor’s prescription for Viagra.
He said he and his partner were forced to use IVF to have a baby.
The man told police the period after he was first made aware of the girl’s allegations was ”horrible”.
”It is the reason I am never going to foster or work with young people again because going through something like this is not pleasant,” he said.
He said the foster daughter had threatened him before when she was extremely angry, but that he ”didn’t think it would go this far”.
”When she gets like that, she always says that she blacks out and she can’t stop herself.”
The trial continues on Thursday before Justice Richard Refshauge in the ACT Supreme Court.”
Accused foster father claims sex ‘not possible’[Canberra Times 4/3/14 by Christopher Knaus]
“A teenage girl cannot have had sex with her foster father because she did not see an obvious mark from an operation, a jury has been told.
The ACT Supreme Court trial of the 35-year-old, who cannot be named, is drawing to a close, and both the Crown and the man’s barrister gave their closing arguments to the jury on Thursday.
The carer stands accused of 12 counts of sexual intercourse with the girl when she was aged 14 and 15, in late 2010 and 2011.
The girl claims the pair had sex regularly, almost every day at one point, and that he used emotional blackmail to try to prevent her telling anyone.
But the foster father has maintained his innocence.
He told police in an interview that he had erectile dysfunction, meaning the allegations were not possible.
But his wife gave evidence on Thursday that the pair had been having sex in 2010 and 2011.
Crown prosecutor Anthony Williamson used that evidence to accuse the foster father of deliberately lying to police.
The man agreed he should have elaborated more about his medical problem in the police interview.
In his closing submission to the jury, the carer’s barrister James Sabharwal said ”there is a lot of smoke in this case”, but not enough evidence to find the man guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
He said the girl’s claims she had sex with the man for one to two hours did not fit with evidence of the man’s erectile dysfunction.
Mr Sabharwal said the fact that the teenage girl had told police she didn’t remember seeing any obvious marks on his body was telling.
The foster father had a mark from an operation in his groin area.
”If she hasn’t seen a mark, she hasn’t seen this man naked,” Mr Sabharwal said.
”And if she hasn’t seen this man naked, she hasn’t had sex with him.”
But Mr Williamson used his closing submission to the jury to point to the strength of the girl’s evidence.
He said it was clear from the level of detail, the way she gave evidence, and from the early complaints she had made to friends, that she was not inventing the story.
The trial continues on Friday, when Justice Richard Refshauge is expected to finish his summing up of the case to the jury.”
Foster father denies sex with girl because she missed scar
[Canberra Times 4/4/14 by Christopher Knaus]
Update 2: “A foster father has been cleared of having sex with a teenage girl in his care.
The man, who cannot be named, stood trial this week on allegations he repeatedly had sex with his foster daughter when she was aged 14 and 15, in 2010 and 2011.
The Crown argued the girl was infatuated with the man, and the pair were allegedly having sex on a daily basis on one point.
She said the man had emotionally blackmailed her, threatening to kill himself if she told anyone.
She also said he had urged her to “deny, deny, deny” if anyone ever asked her about their alleged relationship.
But the father, 35, had fought the charges, maintaining he had never touched or had sex with the girl.
He said he had erectile dysfunction, which did not fit with the girl’s claim to police that, on occasions, they had sex for a period of one to two hours.
The girl also failed to make any mention of a mark near his groin area when asked by police.
That was used by the man’s barrister James Sabharwal to suggest the pair could not have had sex.
“If she hasn’t seen a mark, she hasn’t seen this man naked,” Mr Sabharwal said.
“And if she hasn’t seen this man naked, she hasn’t had sex with him.”
But Crown prosecutor Anthony Williamson pointed to a large volume of complaint evidence, and the strength and consistency of the girl’s evidence, as proof of the truth of her claims.
Mr Williamson said the man had lied to police about the extent of his erectile dysfunction, and had given in to his lusts for the girl.
The jury deliberated for less than a day on Friday before clearing the man on all 12 counts of having sexual intercourse with the girl.
The foster father told police as he was interviewed that the period following the girl’s allegations had been horrible.
“It is the reason I am never going to foster or work with young people again because going through something like this is not pleasant,” he said.
The man’s wife gave evidence in the trial, and then sat in the court to support him.
The trial took roughly four days before Justice Richard Refshauge in the ACT Supreme Court.”
[Canberra Times 4/4/14 by Christopher Knaus]
What a horrendous crime.
thumbs up to child protection, once again not protecting the most vulnerable.
again I ask, who do you call to protect a child when the child is already in child protection services. ?