Hey Dad! actor Robert Hughes has been found guilty of sexually and indecently assaulting young girls.
Robert Hughes and his wife Robyn Gardiner arrive at The Downing Centre District Court. The jury returned a verdict of guilty on nine of the 11 child sex charges against him. Source: News Corp Australia
- Robert Hughes found guilty of nine charges
- Jury to continue deliberating two other charges
- Hughes screamed out "I am innocent"
- Detectives scoured globe for victims
HEY Dad! star Robert Hughes screamed out "I am innocent" after he was found guilty of nine child sex offences.
He was found guilty of seven counts of indecent assault a person under the age of 16 and two counts sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 years.
After deliberating since Thursday afternoon the jury could not come up with a verdict for two of the charges of indecent assault a person under the age of 16.
Hughes' wife and celebrity agent Robyn Gardiner sat calmly among the media in the public gallery as the verdict was delivered.
Judge Peter Zahra asked the jury to deliberate for a further hour on the two other charges and said that he would accept a majority verdict when Hughes stood up in the dock and screamed "I am innocent".
After deliberating for an hour on the two charges they could not agree on, the jury told Judge Zahra that they want to continuing deliberating tomorrow.
His 29-day trial heard details of the 11 child sex offences on five separate girls during the 1980s and in 1990.
Robert Hughes' wife Robyn Gardiner stuck by him throughout the trial. Source: News Corp Australia
They were aged between six and 15.
The charge of indecent assault relating to a young girl who worked on set of Hey Dad! were among the charges the jury could not agree on.
Hughes was accused of molesting the young girl and exposing himself to her at the Channel Seven studios.
NSW Police established Strike Force Ruskin in 2010 after receiving a formal complaint of sexual abuse against Hughes.
As the allegations against him became public, another four alleged victims were identified and officers would go on to interview more than 100 witnesses across four countries.
The inquiry was quickly broadened to include previous claims of abuse stretching as far back as 1982.
Cast from TV show 'Hey Dad', actors (back L-R) Ben Oxenbould, Julie McGregor, Robert Hughes, (front L-R) Sarah Monahan, Mathew Krok and Rachael Beck in 1992. Source: News Limited
According to one alleged victim, that complaint was "swept under the carpet" at the time — the paperwork was also lost over the decades that followed, which set back the Ruskin investigation.
Detectives travelled several times across the world to gather statements and meet witnesses.
In September 2010, they went to four cities in the US, including Los Angeles and New York where they took statements from people who had worked on the show. The original complainant was also interviewed by the strike force detectives in Texas.
In October 2010, the alleged victim who said her complaint was "swept under the carpet" travelled to Sydney from Brisbane to be reinterviewed by police.
The investigation's funding was questioned at several points by senior police. In mid-2011, the police brief of evidence, which contains more than 100 witness statements, was handed to the Director of Public Prosecutions for their consideration. From there, taskforce officers waited for the determination.
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In June 2012, detectives travelled to Melbourne to interview a journalist who had spoken to some of the complainants.
In July, 2012 the DPP ruled police had enough evidence to proceed with 11 charges and an arrest warrant was issued for Hughes.
NSW officers then contacted the Australian Federal Police and the London Metropolitan Police in a bid to locate Hughes, finding him in London.
"He spends a lot of time between the UK and Singapore — he travels between them quite regularly,'' an officer said. "It wasn't overly difficult to locate him."
Hughes was arrested and granted bail in London in August 2012, following a two-year international investigation.
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