Three judges have overturned a Geelong man’s conviction for sexually assaulting an intellectually disabled boy.
The Court of Appeal judges found yesterday that the evidence against Bradley Dickins, 48, was unreliable because a relative might have influenced the 10-year-old’s allegations.
Mr Dickins was convicted in Geelong Country Court last year of sexually penetrating a child under 16 and committing an indecent act in the presence of the boy.
He was sentenced to seven years and nine months’ jail with a non-parole period of five years and nine months.
But judges Stephen Kaye, Stephen McLeish and John Ashley found that the boy’s evidence against Mr Dickins was “fragmented” and “internally inconsistent”.
“It can be concluded that it was not open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the guilt of the applicant on the two charges,” the judges said.
“We are persuaded that the verdicts in this case were unreasonable.”
Mr Dickins, who previously worked repairing children’s rides in shopping centres, was a close family friend of the boy and frequently looked after him at the time of the alleged offences.
The boy first disclosed the allegations to an uncle three years later, the court heard.
The uncle then alleged to the boy his own experience of “sexual misconduct” by Mr Dickins.
The discussion presented a “reasonable possibility” that the boy’s own allegations then “evolved and developed in his mind”.
“It is clear that when (the boy) first said that (Mr Dickins) had offended against him he was responding to the concerns to that effect raised with him by his uncle,” the judges said.
The boy did not tell his parents about the alleged offending and “happily” continued visiting Mr Dickins until the end of 2015, the court heard.
“The fact that (he) chose repeatedly to visit (Mr Dickins) adds further weight to the improbability of the account,” the judges said.
