Liam Anthony Thornton, 26, leaves the ACT Courts during his trial. Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to sexual assault and child abuse.
A jury has found a man guilty of sexually or indecently abusing two girls while he was employed at the Canberra Reptile Zoo.
Liam Anthony Thornton, a 26-year-old who has been involved in Canberra’s reptile community, including as a snake handler, denied all 14 charges when his ACT Supreme Court jury trial began in August.
The trial ended last week and jurors deliberated for three days before returning to court on Monday afternoon (15 September), announcing he was guilty of 11 charges and not guilty of three charges.
By their verdicts, he was found guilty of grooming and indecently assaulting the first girl, as well as repeatedly sexually assaulting, raping and choking the second girl.
After the jury was discharged, the prosecutor said the normal course would be to apply to revoke bail, but Thornton had never breached bail and had his partner and young child waiting outside the courtroom.
Justice Belinda Baker agreed not to revoke bail and said the matter would be before the court on 24 September to find a sentencing date.
Jurors heard Thorton met both girls through their shared interest in reptiles before the offences took place in the early 2020s when he was in his early to mid-20s.
He allegedly began messaging the first girl, who was under 16, over social media before he went on to repeatedly proposition her for sex.
Jurors found that when she visited a reptile shop while he was working there, he indecently touched her body.
While this girl’s claims came from earlier in the 2020s, she went to the police after she found out Thornton had been charged over the second girl’s allegations due to media reports on the latter’s allegations.
The first incident involving the second girl, who was under 18, was found to have taken place when Thornton repeatedly kissed and touched her at a social gathering, even though she told him to stop.
He went on to sexually assault, choke and rape her in his van in the second incident.
“I was very scared,” this girl said about the second incident.
“At that point, I just gave up, I stopped fighting it. I stopped talking. I knew what was going to happen, and I couldn’t do anything.”
When the second girl gave evidence, she denied the defence barrister’s suggestions that she consented to sex. However, she did agree with the barrister’s suggestion that Thornton hadn’t been caring, and she regretted what had occurred.
“He didn’t care about me through the entirety of it,” she said.
“He wasn’t listening to me.”
The jury found Thornton guilty on single counts of grooming and committing an act of indecency on a young person over the first girl.
In relation to the second girl, he was found guilty of two counts of committing an act of indecency without consent, three counts of attempted sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of choking.
He was found not guilty of using a carriage service for child abuse material in relation to the first girl, as well as single counts of committing an act of indecency without consent and sexual intercourse without consent over the second girl.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.
Yet another failure in the ACT legal system How do you get this so wrong? View