Former Launceston General Hospital nurse accused of indecent assault

The Launceston man pleaded not guilty to both charges and appeared in the Launceston Magistrates Court on June 25.

Five witnesses were called to the stand on the first day of the hearing.

Magistrate Ken Stanton heard from two witnesses who claimed to have been inappropriately assaulted by the nurse when they were between 10-13 years old.

In 2020, journalist Camille Bianchi's podcast The Nurse aired the alleged crimes of LGH children's ward nurse James Geoffrey Griffin, who was accused of sexually abusing children throughout his 18-year career.

After the launch of the podcast, a Tasmanian Commission of Inquiry examined the responses of the government's institutions to allegations of child sexual abuse dating back more than 20 years.

According to the inquiry, there was overwhelming evidence regarding child sexual abuse connected to the LGH.

Allegations against a second nurse were made by child sexual abuse survivor Ben Felton, who had given evidence to the inquiry.

Mr Felton said a male nurse sexually assaulted him when he was admitted to the LGH in 1989, aged 13.

Mr Felton appeared in an episode of Ms Bianchi's investigative podcast.

The first complainant and witness (Complainant A) said he was around 12 years old at the time of the alleged assault, while the accused was around 30 years old.

Complainant A told the court he stayed overnight at the accused's house, as the man had developed a trusting relationship with the boy and his family.

The complainant said he met the accused at an asthma camp, where the former nurse was working in a supervisory capacity.

He said the accused met his parents at a barbeque at the end of the camp week and established a friendly relationship with them.

The male nurse would occasionally visit the boy and his parents at their home and sometimes stay overnight or accompany them on day trips.

Photographs of the accused at the asthma camps, at Complainant A's home, and on day trips with the family, as well as photographs of a guest book kept by the witness's mother, were tendered to the court.

The nurse would send him a birthday card every year, but this stopped when he turned 18, the witness said.

Complainant A said there had been an occasion where the accused had climbed into the boy's bed in nothing but boxer shorts and "rubbed his stubble on my face", but "nothing else happened that night".

In March 1989, the witness and his younger brother had stayed overnight at the nurse's house when the assault occurred.

He had been sleeping on an air mattress when the older man allegedly climbed into the bed.

"I believe he was behind me," Complainant A said.

"Early in the morning, there was daylight. He jumped into my bed and put his hand down inside my pants," he said.

Complainant A said he asked the nurse what he was doing, to which the nurse replied he was "making sure everything was ok down there".

The complainant said there were approximately 30 seconds of skin-on-skin contact before he jumped out of bed.

The complainant said he and his brother, who was around six years old at the time, caught the bus home, and he didn't see the nurse again after that-though he still received birthday cards.

Complainant A said his brother had been unaware of what happened that day until decades later.

Under cross-examination, defence lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi asked the complainant if he was worried the accused had done this to others and why he hadn't told anyone about the incident after it happened.

"I was a 12-year-old. Do you know how hard it is to talk to someone about this?" the complainant said.

While Complainant A admitted he had "shut out" many memories of that time period, he was sure of what had happened during the incident.

The complainant said he had visited an alternative therapy centre around 2014, which prompted him to tell his wife, mother and a colleague of the alleged assault; he didn't tell his brother until a few years later.

The complainant said one of the reasons he decided to tell the police was that he'd listened to Mr Felton's allegations on Ms Bianchi's podcast and thought they sounded very similar to his own story.

Complainant A's brother also took the stand on June 25, saying, "[his brother] wanted to come forward to support Ben because he felt that his story was the same".

Witness B alleged that he, too, met the male nurse at an asthma camp and called him "someone who took care of you, someone you could trust."

Witness B said he and Complainant A were known to each other and were "best friends growing up" and in kindergarten, but they had not seen each other for over a decade before the hearing.

He alleged that the accused had also developed a trusting relationship with him and even attended his 10th birthday party.

On one occasion, he stayed overnight at the nurse's house.

"We were watching a movie, and he wanted to give me a massage", Witness B said.

He said he couldn't remember if his pyjama bottoms were partially or completely removed.

Witness B alleged the nurse was massaging his bottom and then asked him to turn over.

"I said no, it made me very awkward, very uncomfortable," Witness B said.

"When I said no, he said '[Complainant A] let me do this', that really stuck in my head," Witness B said.

Witness B said he felt good for saying 'no' and described the nurse's demeanour as "a little bit miffed" and "disappointed" but not angry or violent.

National sexual assault support: 1800 RESPECT, Laurel House (03) 6334 2740 (Launceston), (03) 6431 9711 (Burnie and Devonport), Sexual Assault Support Service (SASS) on 1800 697 877.