An Illawarra father has been cleared of sexual assault accusations involving his 13-year-old son after Judge Andrew Haesler found the boy’s account of the alleged abuse could not be believed.
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The father, who along with his son cannot be named for legal reasons, cried in the dock when Judge Haesler returned not guilty verdicts on three charges on Monday following a four day hearing in Wollongong District Court.
The boy had accused his father of anally raping him on two occasions sometime between March and June last year while at the older man’s house.
In handing down his decision, Judge Haesler said several discrepancies and chronological errors in the boy’s account of the alleged assaults had been exposed during questioning in court.
He noted the boy’s evidence describing what he claimed had happened lacked detail and emotion.
“There was nothing inherently compelling in [the boy’s] evidence,” he said.
“His description of what he said his father did to him did not ring true. It was given in an unemotional, flat, matter-of-fact way.”
Judge Haelser noted the boy gave little peripheral detail about the alleged assaults, including whether there had been conversation between he and his father, or if his father had put his hands on him at the time.
He also couldn’t say how his father’s penis looked, and described the pain from the alleged rape as a “5 out of 10”.
“That [the boy] could not provide further details [of these matters] is telling,” Judge Haesler said.
Meantime, he said the father’s distress when informed of the allegations by police was “immediate” and appeared “heartfelt”.
“I have never hurt my children,” the man told police at the time.