The Tribune

A 64-YEAR-OLD appeared to collapse in court grasping his chest after he was convicted of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a nine-year-old girl.

Edward Butler, 64, became ill, held his chest and appeared non-responsive to help for a time after his conviction in the Supreme Court.

Medical attention was called and his wife was contacted as he appeared to breathe erratically. A family relative brought ‘his medicine’ and he recovered.

Butler, who had denied unlawful sexual intercourse and child pornography charges, became ill shortly after he was convicted at around 4.45pm today, 90 minutes after the jury had started their deliberations.

Butler was found guilty of unlawful sexual intercourse but was found not guilty of child pornography.

He committed the act between November 9, 2009 and January 8, 2010.

The virtual complainant told the court that on a day she was home from school due to illness, a man known to her family had entered the room she slept in and awoke her.

He asked her for oral sex and when she ignored him and went back to sleep, he awoke her again and forced her to give him oral sex.

The girl said she went with her mother and uncle to a police station to report the matter in May 2010.

He had said he was stunned when the allegations were made against him and pictures shown to him when he was at the police station.