A former Uniting Church leader has broken down in tears after a judge found him not guilty of indecent assault allegations stemming back to the early 1990s.
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David John Round, 55, hung his head in relief and wiped tears from his eyes after Judge Andrew Haesler cleared him of four counts of indecent assault on Wednesday following a trial in Wollongong District Court.
Round had been accused of molesting a young church parishioner on three occasions between 1989 and 1991, when the girl was aged 13 to 15 years.
The Crown case was that Round put his hand down the girl’s swimsuit during a church camp at Stanwell Tops in 1989, then touched her on the vagina and kissed her on the lips during a surfing trip 18 months later.
Although confessing on the witness stand to having been sexually aroused by the teen, Round denied he acted on them physically as alleged by the complainant.
On Wednesday, Judge Haesler said he could not be satisfied that the offences had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Judge Haesler heard evidence from the complainant as well as Round during the trial and said he formed the view that both were “credible witnesses” trying their best to tell the truth..
He said as a result, he was unable to “separate” the testimony of either and, in the absence of other evidence of Round’s guilt, had to acquit him of the charges.
“I find all the witnesses to be fundamentally honest when trying to remember and explain events that occurred more than 25 years ago,” he said.
“Mr Round must, as a matter of law, have the benefit of my doubt as to whether [the assaults] occurred or not.”
Judge Haesler also found that Round was not in a position of “authority” over the complainant when the offences were alleged to have occurred, as argued by the Crown.
“There was no evidence that Mr Round controlled, exercised or influenced any authority over [the complainant],” he said.