James Hayward, 53, has pleaded not guilty to the abuse of an eight-year-old girl
A Western Australian MP on trial for child sexual abuse admitted the crimes in an email to his wife before he was charged, a court has been told.
Prosecutor Sean Stocks on Monday said the 53-year-old made the girl indecently touch him on three occasions while putting her to bed. He allegedly told the girl to keep their interactions secret amid warnings from his wife not to get too close to the child for fear an allegation could be made against him.
Stocks said after he learned about the allegations against him, Hayward wrote a letter to his wife in which he said he would be accused of child abuse.Hayward allegedly sent the letter via email a week later, with an additional line.Hayward’s lawyer, Tom Percy KC, said Hayward’s email was “foolish in the extreme” and a “misguided gesture” written during a stressful time in his life and not an admission of guilt.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
WA MP fighting child abuse charges 'confessed to wife', court hearsJames Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four offences relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl.
Read more »
Plan to move SBS to western Sydney would ‘punish’ north shore, leaders sayNorth shore politicians have criticised a feasibility study into relocating the multicultural broadcaster from Artarmon to western Sydney.
Read more »
Living Black just scooped an award for reporting on Western Australia's 'cultural genocide'The nation's longest-running Indigenous current affairs program, hosted by Karla Grant, took home the Kennedy Award for environmental reporting.
Read more »
Why is the Australian dollar falling so fast – and what does it mean?Some analysts believe the dollar may go below US60c, bringing joy to exporters and tourists, but encouraging further interest rate rises
Read more »
Intergenerational report reveals spending in key areas to blow out to half Australian budget by 2063Health, aged care, NDIS, defence and interest payments will grow from one-third of government spending over next four decades
Read more »
Australian unis slammed for teaching ‘woke garbage’ as they drop in rankingSky News host Rowan Dean unleashes on Australian universities which he says are “destroying this nation from within” due to their preoccupation with “woke garbage”. This comes as The Australian reports six of the country’s seven top universities have dropped on the latest Academic Ranking of World Universities. “Rather than educating them, you are failing – you are going down against the rest of the world, shame on you,” Mr Dean said. “You are destroying this nation from within whereas it is your job to inspire this nation, to inspire the next generation of leaders, of entrepreneurs, of great thinkers, of great minds for our nation.”
Read more »