Man for trial: sisters sex claim

By Whitney Harris
Updated November 7 2012 - 3:11am, first published December 15 2009 - 9:12am
John Robert Hunter
John Robert Hunter

A CASTLEMAINE man accused of the repeated rape and sexual abuse of two sisters, one aged just three, has been ordered to stand trial.After a three-day hearing in the Bendigo County Court, the jury committed John Robert Hunter to stand trial over the alleged sexual abuse of two sisters during a period spanning nearly a decade.Hunter is not related to the two girls.The assaults are alleged to have occurred when one victim was aged between seven and 12.The other girl was aged between four and nine.The 73-year-old retired painter is charged with offences alleged to have occurred between July 1991 and August 1999.He faces 25 charges, including multiple counts of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 and performing an indecent act with a child under 16.He is also charged with single counts of performing an indecent act in the presence of a child under 16, and the attempted sexual penetration of a child under 16.During a committal hearing in the Bendigo Magistrates Court in May, the court was told Hunter became a trusted friend of the family and would often take the girls on day trips to Bendigo. Hunter would often give the girls chocolates and sweets, an act the girl’s parents would sometimes feel uncomfortable about.“He sort of treated our kids as if they were his grandchildren,” the girl’s father told the court during the committal hearing.After hearing evidence from a clinical and forensic psychologist and a neuropsychologist, the jury decided Hunter was mentally capable of standing trial.He will return to the Bendigo County Court in May.

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