A man accused of molesting a minor on two separate occasions has been cleared of all the charges after a Grand Court jury returned unanimous, not-guilty verdicts on Friday.
Gordon Aaron McLaughlin was initially charged with four counts of indecent assault against a 14-year-old girl, who claimed that he groped and fondled her when they were left alone.
McLaughlin, who was a close family friend, accepted that he was left alone with the child to carry out home repairs as part of an ongoing renovation project been undertaken by the child’s mother. However, he denied touching the child.
Taking to the stand in his defence, McLaughlin told the jury that on the day in question, he was completing work on a room which was to be the child’s bedroom, and while the repairs were ongoing the child and her mother were sharing the master bedroom.
He told the court that the child, who called him ‘Uncle Gordon’, approached him and confided that she was being bullied in school, and requested that he not tell her parents.
The child accused McLaughlin of inappropriately touching her genitals while she was dressed and then using her hand to touch himself inappropriately. She also accused McLaughlin of holding her down on a bed while she was only wrapped in a towel.
The week-long trial came to an end after a few hours of deliberation by the jury, which returned not-guilty verdicts on all counts.
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