A former police officer accused of historical child-sexual crimes has lost a bid to permanently halt the case against him due to his mental decline.
John Damian Terence Macrae, a senior constable at Waverley police station until 1983, is accused of sexually abusing two girls in the mid-1970s and molesting a third child victim in the mid-1990s.
In December, the 73-year-old was found mentally unfit to stand trial in the NSW District Court due to worsening schizophrenia and cognitive function from progressive brain disease and dementia.
Macrae's lawyers have applied to permanently halt his prosecution on the 10 charges due to the decades of delay in getting the matter to court and his progressive cognitive decline.
On Friday, Judge Thomas Jones said there was a high bar to grant a permanent stay and there must be a "fundamental defect" in the case for that to happen.
He ruled that issues impacting the applicant at a scheduled special hearing, including his cognitive problems, were not serious enough to grant a request that would be tantamount to giving Macrae ongoing immunity from prosecution.
The ex-officer's lawyers argued it was an exceptional case worthy of a stay due to the delay, the ex-officer's loss of cognitive function, issues with the complainants' evidence and an earlier police decision not to prosecute.
But the Crown said lengthy and detailed statements from the complainants showed their memory of the alleged offending had not been impaired over time.
An initial police investigation in 1975 included only preliminary inquiries and no substantive work followed, the court was told.
On one occasion in 1977, Macrae allegedly blew cannabis smoke at a victim's face before going to the bedroom and returning wearing a black robe with his genitalia showing.
He then allegedly showed her a pornographic magazine and asked her to lie naked on the bed like the models before he sexually assaulted her.
Another girl Macrae allegedly abused in the 1970s attended his police station to report an unrelated sexual assault.
Macrae is accused of molesting her in his car and telling her to clean herself up afterwards with a nappy.
He has not entered formal pleas but is taken to have pleaded not guilty due to the court's mental fitness finding.
Judge Jones adjourned the special hearing until March 3.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
