A former Victorian magistrate who once described an alleged rape victim as having “buyer’s remorse” during a hearing has been accused of sexually harassing a young solicitor he was mentoring.
over allegations he was aggressive and intimidating towards another woman, who appeared in court as a defendant, when the sexual harassment claims surfaced in December.
“The commission provided the officer with an opportunity to respond to the complaint. The officer did not provide a response,” the statement read.At the time the sexual harassment complaint was filed in December, the then magistrate was under investigation over allegations dating back to August, that he threatened to jail a woman to terrify her in front of her children.
On Wednesday, the commission said the investigation into both complaints would be discontinued in light of Pithouse’s resignation, a requirement under the“As the panel’s investigation of the first complaint did not conclude, and the panel’s investigation of the second complaint did not commence, no findings were made in relation to the allegations contained in either complaint,” it said.