AFL player Stephen Milne has been charged with four counts of rape over an alleged incident from 2004. This news has broken less than 24-hours after NRL player Blake Ferguson was stood down from the New South Wales State of Origin team after being charged with indecent assault proving that mistreatment of women by football players is omnipresent in the varying footy codes.
Milne, whose celebrated career for the St Kilda football club includes four titles as the club’s leading goalkicker, was at the centre of a police investigation in 2004, that was later dropped without charges due to a lack of evidence. However, after an extensive review Victoria Police have now confirmed they will be laying charges after the nine year interval.
The spokesperson continued saying “it is a matter of regret that this review found the initial investigation to have been substantially inadequate. As a result, further inquiries have been conducted by the Sexual Crimes Squad and after consulting with the Office of Public Prosecutions, the decision has been made to lay charges.
“It is unfortunate for all parties concerned that this matter has taken so many years to progress, but having discussed with the alleged victim in this matter, we can confirm that our decision to lay charges accords with her wishes. It is now important that the defendant in this matter be afforded the same procedural fairness any other member of the community would expect in these circumstances.”
Via The Roar
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