A police officer accused of sexually assaulting a colleague after a work Christmas party nearly 25 years ago has been found not guilty of rape.
Anthony John Clowes pleaded not guilty to one count of rape at the start of a Brisbane District Court trial on Monday.
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty yesterday.
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The now-inspector Clowes and the woman, both detectives at Gladstone at the time, had been to a Christmas party the night of the alleged incident in 1999, the court was told.
Prosecutor Sarah McFarland said in her opening that Clowes and another male officer, who both had a platonic relationship with the woman, were invited to sleep at her house as it was two minutes from the party venue.
The woman was expected to tell jurors she woke to the bed moving, a hand across her chest and Clowes sexually assaulting her from behind, the prosecutor said.
“She will give evidence as to why she did not report this and then why she did… in 2021,” McFarland said.
Defence barrister Saul Holt on Monday said a pretext call the woman made to Clowes in October 2021 was important evidence that resulted in a statement of innocence, instead of a confession.
“It will allow you to conclude that there was a drunken moment, short episode of (consensual) sexual contact between the two of them on the night of a police Christmas party,” Holt said.
When asking why the woman would wrongly claim she was raped after more than two decades, Holt said jurors would gain a clear sense of her significant alcohol abuse issues and mental health struggles.
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