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Murderer Found Not Guilty of Raping Underage Girl
The jury deliberated for two days before clearing convicted murderer Lachlan Young, who denied the allegation and said the complainant fabricated it.
- On Thursday, a County Court jury found Lachlan Young not guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl at a party in the Ballarat suburb of Sebastopol. The jury of 10 men and two women deliberated for two days.
- Currently serving a 28-year prison sentence, Young murdered his ex-girlfriend, Hannah McGuire, in 2024 by strangling her and staging her death as a suicide. The judge described the killing as "brutal and callous."
- During the trial, the complainant alleged Young forced himself on her after she said no. Young testified he stopped sexual contact upon learning her age, claiming he communicated "very little" with the girl over Snapchat.
- Jurors were not informed of Young's murder conviction during the proceedings due to a suppression order. Authorities lifted the order following Thursday's verdict, allowing details to be publicly revealed.
- Young remains in custody for the murder of McGuire and continues serving a non-parole period of at least 22 years. The acquittal does not affect his murder conviction or imprisonment.
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Sydney Morning Herald+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
Hannah McGuire’s killer found not guilty of raping student two months before murder
The killer of young Ballarat woman Hannah McGuire has been found not guilty of raping a 16-year-old student two months before the murder.
·North Sydney, Australia
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Total News Sources10
Leaning Left5Leaning Right3Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources lean Left
50% Left
L 50%
C 20%
R 30%
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