The head investigator into Brittany Higgins's allegation that she had been raped has revealed he is a survivor of sexual assault.
Detective Superintendent Scott Moller disclosed the information on his third day of giving evidence to an ACT board of inquiry, which is examining the conduct of criminal justice agencies in the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann.
Mr Lehrmann maintains his innocence, and there have been no findings against him after his trial was abandoned.
Throughout his testimony, Superintendent Moller was grilled about several investigators' reluctance to charge Mr Lehrmann, including a report in which he raised concerns with Ms Higgins's credibility and the strength of the prosecution case.
Wrapping up his time providing evidence, Superintendent Moller's lawyer, Matt Black, asked him what life experience he brought to his role with ACT police.
Superintendent Moller told the inquiry that 45 years ago he was sexually assaulted.
"I'm a survivor," he said.
"That has driven my desire to work in the police and to work with victims."
Superintendent Moller also denied that police who believed the case should not progress had lost their objectivity about the case.
"They had deeply seated views in relation to not having sufficient evidence [to charge Mr Lehrmann] and even though they had those views, they pushed forward against their own beliefs," he said.
"I think we've seen evidence where members of the investigation team felt sick when they found out we were going to move forward to charge.
"They still did it, and they were committed to the process because that's what we do as police."
Superintendent Moller said he ultimately took the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shane Drumgold, to charge Mr Lehrmann.
Denial of undercharging sexual assault cases
Superintendent Moller also denied that police were under-charging alleged sexual offenders at the time Ms Higgins made her complaint.
On Wednesday, Superintendent Moller was shown a report from the Sexual Assault Prevention and Review (SAPR) steering committee, which showed the proportion of alleged sexual offences proceeding to charge in the ACT was seven per cent in 2021, compared to 44 per cent in 2015.
The barrister for Mr Drumgold, Mark Tedeschi, argued that represented "a deterioration in the level of charging".
But Superintendent Moller said that was "absolutely not" his view.
"The team that work on sexual assault investigations are a dedicated, professional group of investigators," he said.
"From my perspective, the data is not accurate."
The inquiry heard that a number of sexual assault cases that did not initially proceed to charge had been referred to police for re-examination and some of those had since resulted in charges being laid.
Senior cop walks back claims Brittany Higgins's support person was 'inappropriate'
Earlier this morning, Superintendent Moller backed away from his criticism of ACT Victims of Crime Commissioner (VCC) Heidi Yates and her actions to support Ms Higgins.
Yesterday, Superintendent Moller was critical of the conduct of Ms Yates, who acted as an intermediary between police and Ms Higgins during the investigation.
Ms Yates also accompanied Ms Higgins to court during the trial and was present during multiple interactions between Ms Higgins and criminal justice agencies.
"The involvement of the VCC in the investigation was, in my view, inappropriate," Superintendent Moller had said in a statement to the inquiry.
"I could not understand why the head of an organisation was providing the role of 'support person' to an alleged victim of sexual assault."
But on Wednesday, under questioning from Ms Yates's lawyer, Dr Peggy Dwyer, Superintendent Moller conceded he has since changed his view.
"I have now looked at the [legislation] and I can absolutely see that it's within the role for Ms Yates to be involved in matters like this as a support person if she chooses to," he said.
Superintendent Moller had also raised concerns that Ms Yates was "attempting to place a barrier" between investigators and Ms Higgins.
But Dr Dwyer on Wednesday pointed to Ms Yates's role in facilitating a second police interview with Ms Higgins, and Superintendent Moller agreed she had "made it easier".
Superintendent Moller liked social media post critical of DPP
Superintendent Moller was also asked about a comment he liked on the social network LinkedIn, which Mr Tedeschi argued showed his bias in favour of Mr Lehrmann.
The comment was on a post that referred to calls for Mr Drumgold to resign as the DPP.
"I was shocked by some of the prosecutor's reported words," the comment read.
"[Mr Lehrmann] should not be negatively labelled for the rest of his life."
Superintendent Moller said in hindsight he "probably shouldn't have liked the comment" from his professional LinkedIn account, but did not agree that it represented bias.
