Abuse claim unreported
WHEN a Townsville girl told her mother she had been molested by her stepfather, the woman did not contact police, a court has been told.
The girl, 12, was dropped at her father’s home weeks later, where she allegedly confided in his partner, upset and crying.
The man, who cannot be identified, is on trial in Townsville District Court after pleading not guilty to 11 counts of indecent treatment of a child.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court that eight of the alleged offences happened on the same night, at the man and his former partner’s Vincent home.
That day, the Sunday before Christmas 2015, the girl was dropped at the house as part of a shared custody arrangement.
Mr Crane said the girl woke up during the night to the man sitting on her bed.
He allegedly touched her inappropriately and kissed her.
Mr Crane said the man left but returned twice that night and continued the indecent touching.
Mr Crane said the next day the girl went to school and told her best friend what had occurred.
When she came home from school she spoke to her mother.
“They decided they wouldn’t tell her father. Her mother went and got ( her partner), who was in the home, and put the allegations that ( the girl) had told her, to ( him),” Mr Crane said.
“( He) gave a response to the effect of, ‘ Well I thought she was having a bad dream, so I went in the room and I calmed her down’.”
The girl’s mother testified in court yesterday that she be- lieved the complaint had happened about November 29, 2015.
“She ( asked me) about telling her father,” the mother said.
“I said to her that he would be angry. I said, you can tell him if you want to tell him, but he will be angry and that I wouldn’t blame him for a second, meaning that from what I had heard I was very angry.”
The woman said the relationship ended in January last year.
Mr Crane said the girl was returned to her father’s home on New Year’s Day in 2016, where “upset and crying”, the girl confided in her father’s partner.
The woman told other family members of the allegation and a police report was made.
The man is also accused of touching the girl inappropriately on previous occasions, at a different home.
The trial continues today.