Hung jury in trial of ex-Mount Isa priest accused of 1970s child abuse

In the Townsville District Court, a twelve-person jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision after six hours of deliberation in the trial of Neville Joseph Creen, an 86-year-old former Catholic priest from Mount Isa. Creen was charged with one count of repeated sexual conduct with a child and two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 14, alleged to have occurred in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the complainant was about 10-11 years old.

Crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate presented testimony that Creen had touched the boy’s genitals and forced oral sex on multiple occasions in a church back room, with the victim giving evidence behind a screen. Creen testified that he never knew the boy and denied any sexual contact; his lawyer Jessica Horne argued the evidence was vague and memory after decades was unreliable. Judge Terry Gardiner discharged the deadlocked jury, and Creen was granted bail pending a further court date on August 13.