A jury is considering its verdict in the trial of a WA MP fighting child sex abuse charges after he allegedly confessed to the offences in a note to his wife.

August 28, 2023

The jury in the trial of a West Australian MP who allegedly confessed to child sexual abuse in a note to his wife has started deliberating.

James Dorrin Hayward has pleaded not guilty to four charges relating to the alleged abuse of an eight-year-old girl during a two-year period.

The 53-year-old allegedly directed the girl to indecently touch him on three occasions and showed her how to search for pornography on the internet.

The District Court trial in Perth has been told the former television producer would get into bed with the child when he read her bedtime stories.

In a police interview and pre-recorded evidence, the child repeated the allegations but she was vague and unsure when the alleged abuse started and had to be reminded about what she had previously said.

She also said Hayward told her to keep their alleged interactions secret and that he was like an uncle to her and had never done anything to hurt her.

The court has heard the child’s family were aware he often “tucked her in” and her mother said she had not been concerned by his actions.

An older sibling found the girl watching animated Family Guy pornography on her iPad and video-recorded her alleging Hayward had shown her how to search for it and abuse her. But she later admitted suggesting some of the elements of the allegations to the child.

The court was also told Hayward emailed a “suicide note” to his wife after learning about the allegations, which she passed on to police amid fears for his safety.

In it, he wrote: “In the coming days, I expect to be accused of child sex assault in relation to (a child), which I have done”.

He also alluded to the warning his wife had given him before the allegations surfaced about getting into bed with the girl over concerns he could be accused of abuse.

During a police interview, Hayward denied the note was a confession, saying he intended to take his life to spare his and the victim’s family from media scrutiny that would follow the allegations being made public.

He also said he didn’t want his wife to blame the alleged victim for his death, and the alleged confession was designed to avert this situation and maintain the two families’ close relationship.

Hayward resigned from the WA Nationals after the charges were laid in 2021 and continues to sit in the state’s upper house as an independent MP.

The former pastor said he was under a lot of pressure and depressed at the time over a failed former business, which owed $440,000 to the tax office.

He said: “It very quickly became too much and I thought my family would be better off without me”.

Judge Stephen Lemonis told the jury the note couldn’t be used in isolation to convict Hayward due to its vague nature.

He also said it must scrutinise the child’s evidence with great care due to the lack of precision in her evidence and delay in the allegations being made against Hayward, which he said impaired his ability to mount a robust defence against the allegations.

His lawyer Tom Percy KC has been critical of the prosecution’s case against his client, saying there was no medical or other physical evidence.

He also questioned the girl’s honesty, saying her evidence was unreliable and that she made up the allegation for fear of being punished by her parents after she was caught looking at pornography.

Prosecutor Sean Stocks said the child’s evidence had been consistent, and that Hayward had been evasive and used “weasel words” when he gave evidence in a bid to minimise the extent of the pair’s relationship.