![\"Thompson](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/thompson-appears-in-a-tv-commercial-for-rons-discount-carpet-T2VQS42SIRDUXF4GLNL3X3EGT4.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA Christchurch man accused of multiple sex abuse offences has been found living in a popular Australian tourist spot, after previously avoiding trial due to ill health. <\/p>\n
Former carpet salesman Ronald Thompson, 69, was due to face trial in 2023 on 18 charges relating to alleged sexual abuse against six victims. <\/p>\n
The case was haltered after medical evidence presented to the court said he had been referred to a palliative care team and had only months to live. <\/p>\n
NIne’s A Current Affair have reported Thompson is now living in a waterfront apartment in Maroochydore, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.<\/p>\n
The 69-year-old from Christchurch was declared unfit to stand trial and face allegations of sexual abuse. (Source: Nine\/ A Current Affair) (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n
Video footage appeared to show Thompson moving around independently without requiring assistance, including climbing several flights of stairs while out walking his dog.<\/p>\n
When questioned by reporters about his health, Thompson denied he had recovered enough to return to New Zealand to face trial. <\/p>\n
“I haven\u2019t made any recovery,” he said, claiming a holiday to the Philippines in January was only possible because he used a wheelchair. <\/p>\n
Footage of Thompson during his stay the Philippines appeared to show him sitting on a balcony smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. <\/p>\n
Thompson was a prominent figure on NZ television screens in the ’90s, where he promoted his carpet company Ron\u2019s Discount Carpets.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thompson appears in a TV commercial for Ron’s Discount Carpets (Source: Nine)<\/p>\n
He was charged with 18 counts of sexual offending against six alleged victims, four girls and two boys, between 1981 and 2002. The charges included indecent assault and rape, A Current Affair reported. <\/p>\n
After a suppression order was lifted in the Blenheim District Court in 2024, a further six alleged victims came forward to police. <\/p>\n
One of Thompson’s alleged victims told Nine’s A Current Affair she was angered Thompson had been able to evade the justice process.<\/p>\n
“He’s obviously not dying,” she said. “I would hope that he’s sent back to New Zealand and he’s tried for this. He needs to answer to it.” <\/p>\n
Thompson has vehemently denied any of the alleged offences. <\/p>\n
Australian Federal MP Andrew Wallace, whose electorate includes part of the Sunshine Coast, said the Department of Home Affairs should consider cancelling Thompson\u2019s visa and deporting him. <\/p>\n
Under Australian law, visas can be cancelled if a non-citizen is considered a potential risk to the health or safety of the community. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Christchurch man accused of multiple sex abuse offences has been found living in a popular Australian tourist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":321565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[158,67,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-321564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-christchurch-canterbury","tag-crime-and-justice","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}