A 51-year-old man has been charged with assault and aggravated assault after allegations made by a woman who was trekking solo near Daylesford in January.
The woman, Sarah Gibbs, reported her alleged assault in bushland near the popular spa town to local police after an incident on January 27 but said she was told little could be done.
She said she told a uniformed police officer that a man had followed, grabbed and menaced her on a narrow track, asking “Do you want to f— a prince?” before she got away from him.
Although she had told the man her route on the 210-kilometre Goldfields Track while attempting to cajole him, she said, the police officer had simply advised her to take care when she returned to her hike.
Gibbs said the officer told her: “There’s not much we can do. Keep your wits about you and if you see him again on the track, call us back.”
Gibbs had been filming her first multi-night trek to show women following online that it was safe for women to bushwalk and camp alone. She showed the police officer footage from the incident.
She told The Age and the ABC that she was terrified when she felt the man was trying to nudge her off the track and then astounded at a lack of police response at the time.
Victoria Police said in a February 12 statement that a thorough investigation had been conducted into Gibbs’ incident and no offence had been detected.
After a public outcry over women’s safety concerns, Ballarat sexual offences and child abuse team detectives investigated Gibbs’ claims and issued a statement on Thursday saying they had arrested and interviewed a man on Wednesday.
The Daylesford man was charged with common assault and aggravated assault and bailed to appear before Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on April 9.
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Wendy Tuohy is a senior writer focusing on social issues and those impacting women and girls.Connect via X or email.
