RELATED COVERAGE: Indecent assault trial begins
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
RELATED COVERAGE: Court hears trial evidence
RELATED COVERAGE: Partial not guilty verdict for indecent assault accused
UPDATE 4.10pm: Rochester man Jon Edgar Hewitt has been found guilty of indecently assaulting an 88-year-old woman in a northern Victoria nursing home.
The jury found him guilty of one charge of indecent assault relating to an incident on February 3, 2012 where he rubbed the woman's thigh from her knee to the top of her leg, causing her dress to bunch up.
Hewitt was found not guilty of a second charge of indecent assault which alleged he touched the woman's breast area while rubbing her arm later the same day.
Following two-and-a-half days of evidence, the six-man and six-woman jury deliberated for about four hours before delivering its verdict.
Hewitt sat in the dock with his head bowed and hands clasped in his lap as Judge Jane Patrick thanked the jurors for their service.
Defence lawyer Jo Swiney told the court she would need to gather medical reports from her client's doctors before a plea was heard.
Ms Swiney said Hewitt suffered from badly-managed diabetes and had been hospitalised for high blood pressure during the trial.
She asked Hewitt's bail be extended until the plea hearing.
Crown prosecutor Peter Jones said he did not opposed Hewitt's bail but asked for reporting conditions.
Judge Jane Patrick extended Hewitt's bail, but said reporting conditions requiring him to attend at Bendigo police station several times per week would be onerous due to the man's age and health.
Judge Patrick adjourned the case to a plea hearing in Melbourne in August.
EARLIER: The jury in the trial of a Rochester man accused of indecently assaulting an elderly woman has retired to consider its verdict.
Jon Edgar Hewitt, 64, was facing three charges of indecent assaulting following alleged incidents at a northern Victoria nursing home in early 2012.
He is accused of inappropriately touching the leg and breast area of an 88-year-old dementia patient.
Yesterday, Judge Jane Patrick found Hewitt had no case to answer on the first indecent assault charge and discharged the jury from reaching a verdict.
This morning, Judge Patrick concluded her final directions before the six-man and six-woman jury retired to consider its verdict on the remaining two charges.