A former police officer is facing allegations of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl in a police station while on duty and in uniform.
David Robert Blackbourne, aged 56 and formerly with New South Wales police, is accused of providing the teenager and her friend with confiscated alcohol months prior, as revealed in court.
Blackbourne has entered a not guilty plea to charges including assault with indecency, sexual intercourse without consent, and misconduct in public office dating back to 1998 when he was 28 years old in a rural NSW town near the Victoria border.
The trial commenced in the Downing Centre District Court on July 20 and is anticipated to run for five days.
Prosecutors claim that Blackbourne and the teenage girl, identified as ‘Dave’, had interactions while he was working on another case. Allegedly, he and another officer offered the girls a ride home but stopped at the police station, where they were offered alcohol.
Further allegations suggest that Blackbourne later picked up the girl from a pub in a police car, handcuffed her, and engaged in non-consensual kissing and sexual intercourse.
The victim reported the incidents to authorities in 2016, leading to Blackbourne’s arrest in 2023. His defense team vehemently denies the accusations, disputing the events described by the prosecution.
The defense also highlighted the challenges of relying on evidence from an incident that occurred over two decades ago, urging the jury to carefully assess the credibility of the complainant’s recollections.
The trial is ongoing, with the burden of proof resting on the prosecution to establish the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
