Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Kate Lyons

Former Homes NSW employee pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges

Darrell Sanders outside the John Maddison Tower court in Sydney
Darrell Sanders outside the court in Sydney where he pleaded not guilty to all eight charges filed against him. Photograph: James Gourley/The Guardian

A former Homes New South Wales employee will stand trial next year charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and other offences.

Darrell Sanders, 55, of Windsor, appeared in the NSW district court on Friday where his lawyer entered a plea of not guilty to all eight charges filed against him.

The charges relate to alleged offences that occurred across Sydney’s inner west against three complainants.

The charges are: two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of aggravated sexual assault, two counts of aggravated sexual touching, one count of sexual touching without consent, and one count of intentionally recording an intimate image without consent.

The court heard Sanders will face trial in the district court in Sydney in July next year. The trial is expected to last for two to three weeks.

At the time of his arrest, when he was charged with offences against two of the alleged victims, NSW police issued a statement saying: “Police will allege in court that the man used his position as a NSW government employee to arrange for the women to meet him, where they were sexually assaulted.”

Speaking at Sanders’ arraignment on Friday, the crown prosecutor said of the complainants that “these particular applicants for housing are quite vulnerable” and had carer responsibilities which could be a factor in the scheduling and length of the trial.

The crown told the court they would be relying on tendency evidence, which is used to argue that a person has a tendency to act in a particular way, though it was yet to serve the tendency notice to the defence.

Homes NSW said it did not want to comment as the case was before the courts.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.