FORMER teacher and alleged child sex offender, Thomas McKeown, has had his committal hearing adjourned for a fourth time, passing the six month mark and leaving the presiding magistrate to push the prosecutor to deliver a brief by next month.
Mr McKeown, who has been excused from attending court in-person or via video link for over six months, was represented by his defence lawyer Adam Ly in the Broken Hill Local Court on Tuesday, March, 25.
This date was intended to be his long-awaited committal hearing, but due to delays in collating evidence for the brief the committal will now be held on Tuesday, April 22, as decided by presiding Magistrate Jacqueline Trad.
Since September last year the case has grown from eight alleged charges to 38, most with accompanying AVOs.
“This is one of the largest number of AVOs for one person I’ve seen in a long time,” Ms Trad said.
Police Prosecutor Gavin Begg confirmed in court that there were no new AVOs, and requested additional time to deliver the brief of evidence due to the complex nature of the case.
He also said that evidence was still to be collated, with further interviews relating to the newer alleged charges occurring as recently as last week.
Mr Ly said if the case were to be adjourned much longer it would have to be re-listed.
This is because the case has passed the six month mark; the longest amount of time a case usually can be adjourned for, unless the Magistrate believes it to be in the favor of justice.
Ms Trad said, in her opinion, the case could go two ways; proceed with the current charges or continue to wait for new evidence to come in.
She also said that it is coming up to a year since the allegations began in July 2024.
“If more people come forward then more charges will be laid, but in my view we should be proceeding with what we have,” she said.
“What’s there should be dealt with.”
Ms Trad also urged the prosecution to get all information in before the new committal date in April.
“Any additional material, like the interviews from last week, need to get to Mr Ly,” she said.
“I’ve increased the extension for the existing cases, which can then proceed to certification.”
Mr McKeown remains on bail.
