PAEDO LOVER ABUSED GIRL, 10
Soldier’s stunning statement to police:
ACCUSED double-murderer Christopher Carter (above) told police the man he stabbed to death was a paedophile who was abusing a girl in his care, a court has heard. The soldier made the claim in a statement to police after he was charged with murdering his former wife Renee Carter, and her boyfriend, Corey Croft (inset), at Upper Coomera on January 20, 2015, the Brisbane Supreme Court heard yesterday. Carter said a police officer called in 2012 to tell him that Croft was convicted of paedophilia in South Australia, had moved to the Gold Coast using a new name, and was now abusing the girl in his care. Carter, 39, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the pair. The case continues.
GOLD Coast soldier Christopher Robert Carter believed a girl was being sexually assaulted by a convicted paedophile he later killed, a court has heard.
Carter, previously based at Canungra Army Barracks after serving in East Timor and Iraq, is accused of the double-murder of his ex-wife Renee Carter and her partner Corey Croft at their Upper Coomera home on January 20, 2015.
The 39-year-old pleaded not guilty to both charges at the start of his trial by a jury of six women and six men in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday.
More than three years before Croft was found dead alongside Ms Carter at their suburban Skylark St home, a police officer – who was a friend of the family – contacted Carter to tell him Croft was a convicted sex offender living under an alias with a girl in Ipswich, the court was told.
In a statement Carter made to police shortly after being arrested in relation to the murder investigation of the couple on January 21, 2015, he said he had become aware the girl had allegedly been forced to shower with Croft.
“In 2012, I received a message from a ... police officer ... the message was letting me know that Corey Croft was an alias as to who he actually was and pointed me in the direction of the South Australian MAKO register ... I believe this is the paedophile website,” Carter said in his police statement that was yesterday read to the court.
“Renee was aware of some things which Corey was making (the girl) do but had never reported it ... after I found out Renee was not taking any action (the police officer) reported it ...
“I was told (the girl) was being left in Corey’s care.
“I was also informed that (the girl) made certain disclosures about what Corey was making her do.
“At this time (she) was 10 years old and Corey was making (her) shower with him and would lay her down in bed and rub her ... where, I don’t know, but it got to a point where I had to remove her.
“I later found out nothing sexual happened but I was informed it was part of grooming.”
On Monday, the court heard Mr Croft had been convicted of “having sex with a five year old girl he was looking after and filming it”, in a separate incident with a different girl.
The jury was also told he had convictions for possessing child exploitation material in Queensland.
In cross examination of Carter’s fiancé, Angela Slade, David Brustman QC, in- structed by Howden Saggers Lawyers, yesterday asked whether she had ever spoken to Carter about what had allegedly happened between the girl and Croft.
“He never went into detail and he didn’t like talking about it but he did tell me things had happened between Corey and (the girl)... it was sexual abuse,” she said.
The court heard Ms Slade and Carter had met in Townsville in 2013 when they were both working at an IGA store.
The pair had by coincidence moved to the Gold Coast just eight days before Ms Carter and Croft were killed.
On Monday, Mr Brustman told the jury that Carter admitted killing the pair with a knife but did not have the required intent.
The trial continues today.