Maggie Kirkpatrick (centre) leaves the County Court in Melbourne on Monday. Picture: AAP
THE woman who accused Maggie Kirkpatrick of molesting her as a teenager has been taken from court in an ambulance after the actor’s child sex charges were thrown out on appeal.
Kirkpatrick embraced family and friends in the Countt Court on hearing her conviction on child sex charges had been overturned.
Speaking outside court Kirkpatrick said she was relived and thanked her family, legal team and fans for standing by her for two years.
“It’s been rather difficult but I’m very happy with the result,” Kirkpatrick told reporters.
Kirkpatrick, who was best known for playing The Freak on acclaimed small-screen soapie Prisoner, was found guilty in August of two counts of indecent assault and one of committing gross indecency with a girl under 16.
She was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order involving 100 hours’ unpaid work over 12 months, but appealed her conviction to the County Court.
Today County Court Judge Geoffrey Chettle dismissed the convictions.
It’s believe the accuser collapsed after the decision and was treated by paramedics.
Judge Chettle said the offences “may well have occurred” but he could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt they were true.
He described Kirkpatrick’s evidence as “somewhat flowery in style” but said she remained “untouched in cross examination”.
While he described her accuser as “careful and considered”, he noted inconsistencies in her story in relation to peripheral issues.
Yesterday the court heard Kirkpatrick cooked the 14-year old girl her “signature dish” of rabbit stew and watched the Logies with her on the day the girl alleged the offences took place.
Kirkpatrick yesterday entered the witness box to deny any wrong doing.
She told Judge Geoffrey Chettle that she did not molest the girl, who also gave evidence during the appeal.
Kirkpatrick said she picked the girl up from a psychiatric hospital and drove her to her home in Prahran for a meal.
“I simply saw it as an act of kindness ... to have a bit of home life for a day,” she said.
She said she sent the girl home in a taxi after she began to drink her booze – a claim the victim denied.
“Some of my alcohol was consumed without my permission and it made me feel uncomfortable with the seeming reliance she may have been forming for me,” Kirkpatrick said.
She told the court she felt the troubled teen was using her “as a bit of a crutch”.
She said it was likely she cooked the girl her “signature” rabbit stew before sitting down to watch a recorded copy of the Logies, in which she was nominated for an award.
She said it was highly likely she showed her around her house, including her bedroom, but denied abusing her there.
The victim, who cannot be named, said she was molested by the actor in 1984 when she was just 14.
At the time, the girl was a patient at a psychiatric hospital in Kew.
Described as an “obsessed’’ Prisoner fan, a TV producer introduced her to Kirkpatrick.
She later sent the girl back to the hospital in a taxi with a jumper and a signed photo of herself.
Kirkpatrick vigorously denied the allegations.
In her record of interview, which was played in court, Kirkpatrick said the girl was lying.
“These [accusations] are making me feel quite ill,” she said. “You have astonished me with those allegations … it’s beyond comprehension.
“They are vicious and untrue,’’ she said of the accusations.