Hi, unusual question I know but I have searched and I am unable to find any precedent for this.
On one ocassion while having a conversation with my Stepdaughter (age 15 1/2) I rubbed the small of her back (she was lying face down).
On my QP9 (brief) it states that I rubbed her back. This apparently qualifies as "Indecent Treatment of a Child". No other touching was involved or implied.
As luck would have it, the girl ended up desperately wanting to live with her Father and fed me to the sharks. Honestly, I had no idea what I was in for with the Police. I decided to be absolutely honest with them and give them the whole truth. There was very little to tell, and I was absolutely stunned when they arrested and charged me!
I don't wish to minimize the wrong or make light of things IF a crime has been committed, but to be honest I really don't understand any of it. Why is this going to the QLD District Court? It would seem that any conviction would have to be based entirely on innuendo as this is something an everyday Parent might do in the normal course of Family Life? (No doubt Step Parents are viewed completely differently, we are there just to shut up and pay the bills and interact with the children as little as possible).
After nearly 2 years of this nightmare I have woken up and gone "what the hell?". Can I seriously go through this whole Court Process and massive Legal Costs for absent-mindedly rubbing a Child's back? A Child that I was the Parent of for a number of years, and who was in real terms my dependent in the absence of any support from her natural Father?
What recourse do I have here?
I would welcome any and all opinions on this.
On one ocassion while having a conversation with my Stepdaughter (age 15 1/2) I rubbed the small of her back (she was lying face down).
On my QP9 (brief) it states that I rubbed her back. This apparently qualifies as "Indecent Treatment of a Child". No other touching was involved or implied.
As luck would have it, the girl ended up desperately wanting to live with her Father and fed me to the sharks. Honestly, I had no idea what I was in for with the Police. I decided to be absolutely honest with them and give them the whole truth. There was very little to tell, and I was absolutely stunned when they arrested and charged me!
I don't wish to minimize the wrong or make light of things IF a crime has been committed, but to be honest I really don't understand any of it. Why is this going to the QLD District Court? It would seem that any conviction would have to be based entirely on innuendo as this is something an everyday Parent might do in the normal course of Family Life? (No doubt Step Parents are viewed completely differently, we are there just to shut up and pay the bills and interact with the children as little as possible).
After nearly 2 years of this nightmare I have woken up and gone "what the hell?". Can I seriously go through this whole Court Process and massive Legal Costs for absent-mindedly rubbing a Child's back? A Child that I was the Parent of for a number of years, and who was in real terms my dependent in the absence of any support from her natural Father?
What recourse do I have here?
I would welcome any and all opinions on this.