Ex-detective's major loss after sexually touching teen
A jailed sex crimes investigator has lost an appeal against his convictions for sexually touching a 19-year-old woman who came forward to report a crime.
Former NSW police detective Glen Coleman was jailed for at least two years after he was found guilty of twice sexually touching the teenager without her consent in 2022.
The 58-year-old met the teenager when she attended a police station to report her cousin had threatened to distribute naked images of her online.
The jury was persuaded the married detective asked to see the woman's breasts, and touched them in a police station interview room and at a local park.
He also asked for sexual favours in exchange for money, attended a strip club to see her dance, and on one occasion placed $70 on the interview room table before they had sex.
Coleman was convicted, and jailed three years and seven months, with a non-parole period of two years and two months.
His appeal against the convictions was heard in May.
But his bid for freedom was dismissed by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Friday in a judgment by Chief Justice Andrew Bell, Justice Anthony Payne and Justice Natalie Adams.
His convictions were upheld and he will remain behind bars until at least mid-2026.
Coleman's lawyer argued the jury's findings were inconsistent because it found his client guilty of two sexual touching offences and acquitted him of seven other offences.
But crown prosecutor Carl Young said the jury's verdicts showed it had confronted difficult issues in assessing the teenager's ability to consent and Coleman's knowledge of consent.
The jury did not pick one of the lesser counts from each incident when determining its verdicts and instead based its findings on the supporting evidence for each count.
"The acquittals do not necessarily mean that the jury rejected (the teenager) as a witness or her evidence," Mr Young said.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Fox News
29 minutes ago
- Fox News
Dem governor's decades-old political persecution claim over alleged cocaine use disputed by bombshell memo
FIRST ON FOX: Maine's Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has for years dismissed an investigation into her alleged cocaine use as politically motivated, but a newly unearthed memo obtained by Fox News Digital contradicts her decades-old claim. In early 1990, the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Maine's Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) investigated Mills, then a sitting district attorney in Maine, after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine. The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed, but Mills has maintained that the investigation never had any merit and that she was politically targeted for her Democratic affiliation and criticism of BIDE. In 1990, she and two other district attorneys in Maine criticized BIDE for inflating arrest numbers through excessive enforcement of low-level drug offenders. "It's scary," Mills told the Portland Press Herald in November 1991. "Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it." A March 1995 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility (DOJ/OPR), addressed to the Deputy Attorney General, of whom Merrick Garland was an associate serving as the principal associate Deputy Attorney General, unearthed by Fox News Digital, refutes Mills' claim, revealing there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating her case. According to the DOJ memo, WCSH-TV reported in December 1990 that Mills was being investigated by a federal grand jury for drug use, citing law enforcement sources. Mills later sued that reporter for libel and slander. The report also prompted Mills' attorney to demand a grand jury investigation, arguing that "the press received leaks from BIDE law enforcement officials." The results of the libel and slander suit are no longer available. The docket for the case showed that the records were disposed of in 2015 in accordance with policy. However, a 1991 Lewiston Sun-Journal article appears to state that the effort to "end drug probe rumors" was thrown out by a judge. In January 1992, then-Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., stepped in and requested the DOJ/OPR investigate allegations that Maine's USAO had "refused to investigate the grand jury leak" and that attorneys had engaged in "intimidation and coercion of witnesses" during the investigation. Those concerns were initially raised by Patrick Paradis and N. Paul Gauvreau, the House and Senate chairs of the Judiciary Committee of the Maine Legislature, in a letter sent to then-Sen. George Mitchell, D-Maine. The letter suggested that the allegations involving Maine's USAO "go far beyond the state agency involved." Ultimately, no charges were filed against Mills for her alleged cocaine use. But the Department of Justice also found that all of Mills' claims were "unsubstantiated," including allegations that she was politically targeted, that investigators solicited false testimony, that witnesses were coerced or threatened and that BIDE agents leaked grand jury information to the press. "The USAO in Maine conducted a proper investigation of serious allegations; no misconduct of any kind can fairly be attributed to any member of that office," DOJ/OPR concluded in 1995. While the Justice Department debunked Mills' claims, she dismissed the allegations against her as politically motivated throughout the investigation. According to the memo, Mills "announced publicly that she was the victim of a smear campaign" in 1991. "I'd say it's awfully coincidental that this investigation started and was leaked to the press shortly after my public comments about the lack of accountability at BIDE," Mills said that same year. Mills also claimed it sets a "very bad precedent when a prosecutor has to look over his or her shoulder every time you put somebody in jail and wonder whether that person is going to find an audience down the street in the BIDE office or down the road in the U.S. Attorney's Office to say dirty things about you." Fox News Digital reached out to Mills's office multiple times for comment but did not receive a response. Earlier this year, Mills accused President Donald Trump of leading a "politically directed investigation" into Maine's Department of Education. During a National Governors Association (NGA) meeting at the White House in February, Mills and Trump publicly sparred over biological men playing in women's sports. Trump said Mills should comply with his executive order preventing transgender athletes from competing in girls' and women's sports, or "you're not going to get any federal funding," to which she replied, "We'll see you in court," which is exactly where the issue has been tied up. Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills' governorship term limited next year, she would be a competitive Democratic candidate to challenge Collins. Mills indicated in April that she did not "plan to run for another office," but admitted that "things change week to week, month to month," leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid.
Los Angeles Times
34 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Japan executes man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering 9 people in his apartment
TOKYO — A man convicted of murder for killing and dismembering nine people in his apartment near Tokyo was executed Friday, Japan's Justice Ministry said. Takahiro Shiraishi, known as the 'Twitter killer,' was sentenced to death in 2020 for the killings in 2017 of the nine victims, most of whom had posted suicidal thoughts on social media. He was also convicted of sexually abusing female victims. Police arrested him later that year after finding the bodies of eight teenage girls and women as well as one man in cold-storage cases in his apartment. Investigators said Shiraishi approached the victims via Twitter, offering to assist them with their suicidal wishes. He killed the three teenage girls and five women after raping them. He also killed the boyfriend of one of the women to silence him. 'The case caused extremely serious outcomes and dealt a major shockwave and unease to the society,' Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki told an emergency news conference. He said he signed the execution earlier this week, but did not witness Shiraishi's hanging. The execution was carried out as calls grow to abolish capital punishment or increase transparency in Japan after the acquittal of the world's longest-serving death row inmate Iwao Hakamada last year. Suzuki justified the need for the execution in Japan, noting a recent government survey shows an overwhelming majority of the public still supports capital punishment, though opposition has somewhat increased. 'I believe it is not appropriate to abolish execution,' Suzuki said, adding there is growing concern about serious crime. Shiraishi was hanged at the Tokyo Detention House in secrecy with nothing disclosed until the execution was done. Japan now has 105 people on death row, including 49 seeking retrials, Suzuki said. Executions are carried out in secrecy in Japan, where prisoners are not even informed of their fate until the morning of their hanging. Since 2007, Japan has begun disclosing the names of those executed and some details of their crimes, but disclosures are still limited. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that retain capital punishment. Japan's most recent execution, in July 2022, was of a man who killed seven people in a vehicle crash and stabbing rampage in a crowded Tokyo shopping district of Akihabara in 2018. Japan's crime rate is relatively low, but it has seen some high-profile mass killings in recent years. Yamaguchi writes for the Associated Press.
CNN
43 minutes ago
- CNN
‘Cobra Kai' star Alicia Hannah-Kim accuses co-star of biting her
"Cobra Kai" star Martin Kove allegedly bit co-star Alicia Hannah-Kim during a fan convention in Washington, claiming it was a joke, according to police.
