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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Child/Minor Sexual Assault |
Sentence: |
40 months |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.62 |
Year Crime: |
2013 |
Year Convicted: |
2014 |
Year Cleared: |
2015 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Australia |
County or Region of Crime: |
Western Australia |
City of Crime: |
Perth |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Released |
Summary of Case: |
"P. L. R. was wrongly convicted in October 2014 of one count of sexually penetrating his 14-year-old son "M." by introducing his penis into his mouth sometime between August 2012 and June 2013 in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. After six years of marriage, R. and M.'s mother were divorced in 2008 while she was pregnant with M. R. remarried, but he kept in close contact with his son, and in 2012 and 2013 he was flying every month the 1,700 miles from his home in Melbourne to see his son in Perth. R. and his former wife "G." had a very acromonious relationship, and over a period of years she repeatedly tried to interfere with R. having access to talk with and see his son. In 2010 she went so far as to cut off her son's access to Skype so R. and M. couldn't talk with each other daily. In February 2013 G. told her former husband about her efforts to block him seeing his son, "I know you have the law on your side but you've got no idea the length a scorned woman will go to." In April 2013 both J. and her current husband, "G.", threatened to assault R., so he took out a personal safety intervention order (PSIO) against G.. In May 2013 R. told his ex-wife that he would agree to discontinue the PSIO if G. agreed to allow him access to their son and hand him over for visits in a public place. On May 27, 2013 G. sent a text message to R. asking if he had withdrawn the PSIO. During a hearing on May 28, 2013 in Family Court regarding the PSIO, M. stated that "Daddy Larry touches my winkie." The next day, May 29, G. sent a text message to R., "[t]his is the fourth communication I have sent you ... Have you withdrawn your application for a personal safety intervention order?" On May 30, 2013 G. left an aggressive and threatening voice message on R.'s phone about the PSIO. On June 11, 2013 G. gave a statement to the police implicating R. in alleged improper touching of his son. Three days later, on June 14, a charge was filed against R. related to sexual touching of his son, and a condition of his release on bail was that he have no contact with his son. In August 2013 the no-contact provision was removed by the court. Even though on July 3, 2013 G. signed a police statement that she told Perth police Detective Fisher was complete and nothing had been left out, two additional charges were subsequently filed against R. based on belated disclosures that G. claimed her son had made to her prior to July 3 about his father, including Count 2, which was he sexually penetrated his son by puting his penis in his son's mouth. During R.'s trial the prosecution's case was based on G.'s testimony about what she said her son told her, and somewhat vague statements by M. about what his father had done at a time unknown, but sometime during the 10 months between Aug. 2012 and June 2013. Det. Fisher testified that G. specifically told him that her statement of July 3, 2013 was complete and she had nothing further to add. R. testified in his defense and denied all the allegations as false, and he described the many years long vindictive campaign his ex-wife had engaged in to try and stop him from seeing or even having contact with his son. R.'s current wife, "L.", testified that although she had traveled to Perth with her husband for his visits with his son in September and October 2012, she didn't make make other monthly visits because they couldn't afford for both of them to travel. She testified that R. had never attempted to discourage her from traveling to Perth with him. The defense also called a family friend, Thomas Bachauer, who testified he spent time with R. and his son in Perth and that there was always "a positive and happy interaction between the two." The jury acquitted R. of Count 1 and Count 3, but convicted him by a majority vote of Count 2 -- which was based on G.'s belated disclosure to the police that Det. Fisher had testified about. (A majority vote of 10-2 or 11-1 for conviction is allowed in WA for criminal trials that don't involve murder or a possible life sentence.) R. was sentenced to four years in prison. R. appealed. On July 31, 2015 the Supreme Court of Western Australia - Court of Appeal, set aside R.'s conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis of extreme “doubts about the credibility” of his ex-wife's testimony, and that there was a “real risk” his son's evidence was “contaminated” by his mother's vindictiveness against her former husband. R. was released from prison after serving 7-1/2 months of his sentence. In January 2016 it was reported that R. had filed a claim with Western Australia's Attorney General for an ex gratia payment of $250,000 for the "devasting" blunder of his prosecution and conviction of a crime that there was no credible evidence even occured." |
Conviction Caused By: |
Perjury by R.'s ex-wife and contaminated testimony by their son. |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On July 31, 2015 the Supreme Court of Western Australia - Court of Appeal, set aside R.'s conviction and ordered his acquittal on the basis of extreme “doubts about the credibility” of his ex-wife's testimony, and that there was a “real risk” his son's evidence was “contaminated” by his mother's vindictiveness against her former husband R. The Court ruled to "...set aside the appellant's conviction on count 2 and enter a verdict of acquittal."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
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Age When Released: |
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Sex: |
Male |
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Information Source 1: |
PLR v The State of Western Australia [No 2] [2015] WASCA 149 (31 July 2015) (Reversing conviction and ordering judgment of acquittal.) |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/wa/WASCA/2015/149.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Wrongfully jailed father seeks compensation after serving seven months behind bars, By Phil Hickey (Police Reporter), PerthNow (Perth, Australia), January 30, 2016" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/wrongfully-jailed-father-seeks-compensation-after-serving-seven-months-behind-bars/news-story/2013fb969a36d0208ba37674a01a5c19 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org