The Crown prosecuted historical sexual offence allegations said to have occurred between 1985 and 1987 against a child complainant in a household setting.
The trial judge found the complainant to be sincere and generally credible, but held that significant inconsistencies across police, preliminary inquiry, and trial accounts, substantial gaps in recollection, and the risk of memory distortion over time undermined reliability.
The court also found the corroborative evidence of the complainant's mother unreliable.
Applying the reasonable doubt standard to frail historical evidence, the court acquitted on all counts.
