AUSTRALIA
9 News
AAP
A Salvation Army officer accused of abusing four boys in the same training centre was acquitted when evidence was disallowed, a national inquiry has been told.
The child sex abuse royal commission heard on Wednesday Norman John Poulter, an officer at the Bayswater Boys’ Home in Victoria, was charged in 2008 with 14 counts of child sex abuse against four boys.
A trial judge decided that a joint or group trial could be held, and coincidence evidence – in this case evidence showing children of about the same age complained about the same man in the same place – should be admitted.
When lawyers for Poulter appealed the judge’s decision, the Victorian Court of Appeal ruled the evidence was not admissible and ordered separate trials.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.