PROSECUTORS have finalised the charges against a former Hunter man accused of historical sexual assault and serious violence offences over an 18-year period.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Warren John McCorriston, now 59, did not appear in Newcastle Local Court during a brief mention of his matter on Wednesday.
But court documents revealed that Mr McCorriston, who left the Hunter in the 1990s and became a "respected" resort manager in Queensland, is now facing 23 sexual assault and assault charges relating to four women between 1979 and 1997.
Mr McCorriston, who was represented by Legal Aid senior solicitor Leanne Mellor, has not entered any pleas or applied for bail since his arrest earlier this year.
The DPP withdrew five charges on Wednesday and the matter was adjourned until September, with the parties expected to hold a conference next month to discuss the charges.
Mr McCorriston was extradited to NSW in January after Strike Force Arapaima detectives charged him with a string of historical sexual assault and serious violence offences.
The charges relate to four young women or teenage girls, who were allegedly sexually assaulted, assaulted or detained at Newcastle, Eleebana, New Lambton, Lambton, Redhead, Blacksmiths and Gosford over an 18-year period.
Strike Force Arapaima, led by veteran Lake Macquarie detective Sergeant Kristi Faber, was established in April last year to investigate the disappearance of university student Leanne Goodall, 20, after leaving the Star Hotel in December, 1978; dental nurse Robyn Hickie, 18, last seen at a Belmont North bus stop in April, 1979; Amanda Robinson, 14, last seen at a Swansea bus stop while walking home from a school dance in April, 1979 and Gordana Kotevski, 16, who was last seen in 1994 while walking home at Charlestown.
No one has been charged in relation to their disappearances and suspected murders.
Mr McCorriston is a former Belmont High student who worked at Rundles in Newcastle as a teenager before switching to hospitality and landing jobs at some of Queensland's best-known resorts.
