A former high-profile New South Wales mayor, homelessness advocate and Order of Australia recipient could face a retrial on two historical child sexual abuse charges after a jury failed to reach a final verdict in the case.
In 2020 the former independent mayor of Gosford City Council, Laurence "Laurie" Maher, 84, was charged with eight child sex offences, including several counts of buggery, sexual assault and indecent assault on a male.
He was superintendent of the Mount Penang training school near Gosford, where four teenage detainees alleged they were sexually abused during the late 1970s and '80s.
Earlier this week the jury delivered a partial verdict and acquitted Mr Maher of six of the eight charges.
On Friday, after seven days of deliberations, the jury was discharged after it failed to reach a unanimous or majority verdict on the remaining two counts.
Court to weigh retrial
During the three-week District Court trial, the claimants described alleged abuse involving oral and anal sex that took place at several "isolated" locations at the facility, including inside the isolation cells and the superintendent's office.
Crown prosecutor Mark Hay told the court Laurie Maher chose the most vulnerable boys and used his "clear power" as superintendent to either threaten or reward them.
One former Mt Penang employee told the court Mr Maher had the authority to do "anything" when he was in charge and was involved in all facets of the institution.
Under cross-examination, Mr Maher insisted he could not recall any of the alleged victims and repeatedly denied allegations he sexually abused them.
Defence barrister Paul Rosser went on the attack in his final statement to the jury.
He dismissed outright the alleged victims' credibility and described the men as "liars" who had "made up" the abuse claims and could not be believed "in a million years."
Mr Maher will return to court in early November, when the possibility of a retrial will be determined.
Police investigations into Mr Maher were triggered as part of Strikeforce Eckersley, which was set up in 2016 in response to a series of complaints made to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Mr Maher was first interviewed by detectives about the allegations more than 12 months before his arrest in April 2020.
He was superintendent Mount Penang for 15 years until the early 1990s.
