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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Indecent Assault (Incl. aggravated) |
Sentence: |
5 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.33 |
Year Crime: |
1979 |
Year Convicted: |
2010 |
Year Cleared: |
2012 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Australia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Victoria |
City of Crime: |
Montrose |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Josephine Greensill was wrongly convicted on June 9, 2010 after an 11 day jury trial of committing nine counts of indecent assault against two 8-year-old boys in 1979 when she was a 28-year-old 3rd grade teacher in Montrose, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Greensill was Josephine Sumpton in 1979, and the two males -- only identified as “Jim” and “Dan” -- made no accusation against her until 2007. There was no evidence of the alleged crimes by the mother of five except for the testimony of her two accusers 31 years after the alleged crimes, which was enough to convince the jurors of her guilt. Greensill was taken into custody on July 21, 2010 and she was sentenced on August 10, 2010 to 5 years in prison, and the judge said she had “poisoned and eroded” much of the two men's lives. Greensill appealed, and on November 22, 2012 Victoria’s Court of Appeals quashed Greensill’s convictions and sentence, acquitted her of all charges, and ordered her immediate release from custody. Greensill was released from prison after 2 years and 5-1/2 months of imprisonment. The acquittal was based on new evidence supporting collusion between the men that had ''contaminated'' the evidence, including evidence they committed perjury during Greensill’s trial when they testified they hadn't seen each other since 1979 which was disproven by a detective’s sworn statement that before giving his police statement “Dan” conferred with “Jim” -- who had already given his statement -- ann the two statements were materially similar. Those statements were the basis of the charges against Greensill. There was also new evidence that both men had previously wrongly identified another teacher as committing indecent acts and their statements in that incident used “common language” that was in their statements regarding Greensill. Also, a week after Greensill’s sentence “Jim” began efforts that resulted in him being paid victim compensation of AUS$65,000." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Apparent perjury by the two alleged "victims" for monetary gain." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On November 22, 2012 Victoria's Court of Appeals quashed Greensill's conviction and acquitted her of all charges, and ordered her immediate release from custody." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
59 |
Age When Released: |
61 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Greensill v The Queen [2012] VSCA 306 (December 13, 2012)" |
Information Location 1: |
http://scv2.webcentral.com.au/vsca/# |
Information Source 2: |
"Doubts over accusers' evidence led to teacher's release, By Steve Butcher (staff), The Age (Melbourne, AUS), December 13, 2012" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/doubts-over-accusers-evidence-led-to-teachers-release-20121213-2bblr.html |
Information Source 3: |
"Court quashes sex offence conviction, By Steve Butcher (staff), The Age (Melbourne, AUS), December 10, 2012" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/court-quashes-sex-offence-conviction-20121209-2b3n7.html |
Information Source 4: |
"Female teacher who abused boys, 8, in 1970s shows no remorse, Kate Jones (staff), Herald Sun (Melbourne, AUS), July 21, 2010" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/female-teacher-who-abused-boys-8-in-1970s-shows-no-remorse/story-e6frf7kx-1225895103994 |
Information Source 5: |
"Teacher Josephine Greensill who abused students jailed, AAP story, The Australian, August 10, 2010" |
Information Location 5: |
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/teacher-josephine-greensill-who-abused-students-jailed/story-fn3dxity-1225903372022 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org