A jury has found decorated North Queensland youth worker Geoffrey John Guest guilty of child sex abuse.
Warning: This article contains details of child abuse that some readers may find distressing.
Guest, 99, taught at-risk mostly Indigenous youth to work with horses at the now-defunct Petford Training Farm, which he founded in 1978.
During a week-long trial in the District Court in Cairns, a jury was told Guest sexually abused a teenage boy over a period of more than 18 months in the mid-1970s.
Guest was “like a chameleon”, the court heard, who appeared “perfect” when other adults were around but, when alone with teenage boys, would flog them with a leather strap.
The court heard the sexual abuse happened at a remote North Queensland property with “no electricity, no kitchen, no privacy … and a dirt floor”.
Geoff Guest (right) pictured at his trial in Cairns last year. (ABC Far North: Christopher Testa)
Guest, from Petford in Far North Queensland, pleaded not guilty to one count of repeated sexual conduct with a child in circumstances of aggravation, four counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16, and one count of unlawful carnal knowledge.
After about nine hours of deliberations, the jury this afternoon returned majority guilty verdicts on all charges.
The verdicts were delivered after Judge Tracy Fantin told the jury members they had been deliberating long enough to return a majority decision — one where 11 of the 12 jurors agreed.
Guest, who was on bail throughout the trial, has been remanded in custody.
Judge Fantin adjourned the case until tomorrow afternoon for sentencing.
Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court she would be asking for a “lengthy term of imprisonment”.
Victim broke down after TV program
During four days of evidence, the court heard the complainant, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, disclosed the sexual abuse in September 2009 after having a “visceral” reaction to seeing Guest on television current affairs program 60 Minutes.
The complainant’s then-partner told the court he appeared “sullen” and “morose” after watching the program about Guest’s work at the Petford farm.
The man told his partner about the sexual abuse, and she made contemporaneous notes of what he revealed, the court heard.
Geoff Guest (centre) leaves court in late February after an earlier mistrial. (ABC News: Conor Byrne)
The complainant, now in his 60s, made a statement to police in 2012, but detectives did not follow it up to get the statement signed until a decade later.
Guest — who has an Order of Australia Medal and a Centenary Medal for services to disadvantaged and Indigenous youth — was charged in 2023.
He stood trial in July 2025, but a jury was unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict after about two days of deliberations.
A new trial began in late February but a mistrial was declared when a witness gave inadmissible evidence before the jury, which was discharged.
The third and final trial began the following day on February 25.
Guest denied offending
Guest gave evidence at the trial, denying any child sexual abuse occurred, repeatedly saying “no way” when allegations were put to him.
The court heard the sexual abuse occurred about three times a week but only while Guest and the complainant were alone.
Two witnesses, who have not been named for legal reasons, were of a similar age to the complainant and gave evidence at the trial.
Crown prosecutor Nicole Friedewald leaves Cairns Courthouse after Geoff Guest, 99, was found guilty of child sex abuse. (ABC News: Brendan Mounter)
They said they were unaware of any sexual abuse but were subjected to violent beatings by Guest.
One told the court about seeing the complainant with “black bruises on his arms, legs [and] face”.
“[Guest] would call [the complainant] all names, like effing idiot,” the witness told the court.
“He would flog him either with the hobble strap or punch him.
“We saw [the complainant] get the worst of it but if we stepped in, we would’ve got the same thing.”
Defence counsel Kelly Goodwin suggested the witness was motivated to lie because he was angry at Guest — an assertion the witness rejected.
Ten character witnesses, including a psychiatrist, writer, tour guide and two men who spent time at Petford Training Farm as youths, gave evidence in Guest’s defence at the trial, telling the court of his respect in the community.
Defence barrister Kelly Goodwin leaves court after his client Geoff Guest was found guilty. (ABC News: Christopher Testa)
Camp closed down
At Petford Training Farm, Guest took in young people who were getting into trouble and taught them rural skills, such as mustering and how to break in horses.
In 1986, the Queensland government began funding the camp and referring children there.
That funding was withdrawn and Guest’s youth training program shut down in 1999, following an evaluation of its operation and the Forde Commission of Inquiry into the abuse of children in Queensland institutions, which both recommended Petford’s closure.
The latter report found the training farm had “all the hallmarks of a high-risk institution for abuse of residents”.