An aboriginal paedophile accused a West Australian jury of racism and told them to “burn in hell” after they found him guilty of raping one young girl and indecently dealing with another.
Patrick Joseph Hunter, 46, was convicted of one charge of sexual penetration of a child under 13 and four charges of indecent dealing with a child under 13 in Broome District Court last week.
Hunter signed when the verdict was handed down and said “You’re racist, I’ve got family of my own” and “I hope you all burn in hell … I didn’t do them things, man,” ABC News reported.
He abused the two girls, one of whom was aged between seven and nine, in a remote indigenous community north of Broome between April 2019 and October 2020, and both gave evidence via video-link during the trial.
Footage of a police interview with the indecent dealing victim was played to the court, and showed the girl saying: “He did something bad to me that I didn’t like … my heart was beating, I was so scared.”
Hunter denied committing the offences and his defence lawyer, Fintan Roberts, argued there were inconsistencies in evidence relating to one of the girls’ knowledge of certain sexual activities and in the timeline of events.
But Prosecutor Nikki Conley said the girls’ statements were consistent in relation to the charge and the inconsistencies “should not trouble” the jury.
“When a witness recalls something differently, it’s not because they are lying, it’s because they are human … and that’s especially true of children,” she told the court.
Judge Linda Petrusa will sentence Hunter next month.
Header image: Patrick Joseph Hunter (ABC News).
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