South West basketball coach Dylan Mck Pillage fate undecided as jury fails to reach verdict in rape trial

A South West basketball coach accused of pursuing a sexual relationship with a teenage girl will have to wait another two months to discover his fate after a jury failed to come to a verdict this month. Dylan Mck Pillage, 27, spent 10 days on trial in Busselton District Court accused of eight counts of sexually penetrating a child aged between 13 to 16 and one count of attempting to sexually penetrate a child aged between 13 and 16 in 2017. It was alleged in court he had sexually assaulted the 14-year-old during his time as an umpire and basketball coach with the Nannup Basketball Association. He is accused of picking the girl up from her family home and taking her to Barrabup Pool and the Nannup Aboretum to have sex with her between March 2017 and March 2018. The girl told the court at the time she had willingly sent lewd photographs to the man via Snapchat before confiding in a friend about the pair’s developing “relationship”. Prosecutor Tatiyajith Karunaratne told the jury she was a minor and any sexual relationship was illegal and it was up to Mr Pillage to stop any relationship developing. “When it’s a child, it’s an offense,” he said. “You have all been teenagers before, you know how they respond to certain situations.” Mr Pillage has adamantly denied the allegations since his arrest in 2020, telling police at the time it was “all lies”. “She’s had it out for me, she didn’t like me one bit ... she’s always had a little thing against me, a little grudge,” he said at the time. While Mr Pillage chose not to take the stand as a witness, defence lawyer Rhonda Parks slammed the victim for her “inconsistent memory” about the alleged events and dubbed her “unreliable”. After deliberating for a day, the jury was unable to come to a decision of guilt and Mr Pillage’s matter was adjourned until May. He was released back on bail.