World · East Asia & Pacific · 8 hrs ago
Podcast publicity delayed Victorian sex offence trial by 10 months
William Gilfillan, a former physical education teacher, faced trial in Victoria over alleged sexual offences against two schoolgirls in his care in the 1980s.
He was already serving a 48-year sentence for abusing his daughter in New South Wales, but jurors in the Victorian case could not be told about those convictions.
The Australian’s podcast Shadow of Doubt questioned whether the NSW convictions were a miscarriage of justice.
Gilfillan’s defence argued that the podcast and online discussion could make a fair trial impossible.
A judge refused to cancel the trial but delayed jury selection by 10 months and ordered efforts to remove prejudicial material from the internet.
The trial went ahead in December 2025, and a jury found Gilfillan guilty of sexual offences.
In June, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in jail, to be served at the same time as his existing 48-year sentence.
The Australian’s Shadow of Doubt podcast contributed to a 10-month delay in William “Rob” Gilfillan’s Victorian sex offence trial, court documents revealed.
Gilfillan was due to stand trial in February 2025 on five charges involving two schoolgirls in Gippsland in the 1980s.
A judge denied the defence application to permanently halt the trial but delayed jury selection until 1 December 2025.
The jury found Gilfillan guilty in December, and he was sentenced in June to seven-and-a-half years in jail, concurrent with his 48-year term.
The podcast questioned whether Gilfillan’s earlier conviction for abusing his daughter was a miscarriage of justice.
- Who
- William “Rob” Gilfillan, a former physical education teacher.
- What
- His Victorian trial on five sex offence charges was delayed by 10 months after concerns about online publicity.
- When
- Jury selection was delayed until 1 December 2025; the trial went ahead in December.
- Where
- Victoria; the alleged offences involved two schoolgirls in Gippsland.
- Why
- The defence argued that online material, including the podcast, risked prejudicing the jury.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The podcast is the first link that comes up on typing the accused’s name into Google, even though he is not identified by name in that podcast
created an irredeemable prejudice to the conduct of this trial
I’m very troubled by the continuing position where these comments remain on the internet notwithstanding that, for weeks now we’ve identified a very significant problem potentially affecting the fairness of the trial and nothing’s been done it seems to resolve the problem
We’re innocent … these things just did not happen.
The Australian launched its Shadow of Doubt podcast.
Gilfillan was due to stand trial in Victoria on five sex offence charges.
Justice Michael O’Connell denied a permanent stay but delayed jury selection and ordered attempts to remove prejudicial material from the internet.
The jury found Gilfillan guilty.
Gilfillan was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail, concurrent with his 48-year term.
- Podcast
- Shadow of Doubt, launched in March 2023
- Trial delay
- 10 months
- Charges
- Five counts involving two schoolgirls
- Location and period
- Gippsland, in the 1980s
- Sentence
- Seven-and-a-half years, concurrent with a 48-year term
Sources
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