I was talking to a friend about the Michael Jackson allegations, and I
mentioned how a few years back I saw Gordon Piper, an actor in the TV
show 'A Country Practice', on the news leaving court for a child sex
offence (I don?t know what the eventual verdict was).

My friend said that the real-life policeman who did stories on the
children?s TV show 'Wombat' also did something similar, but he wasn?t
sure if he was found guilty. I suspect that, in Australia, such
stories are suppressed by the TV stations, as they don?t want the
negative publicity for their shows.

Who was the policeman, and what was the outcome of the trial?

Hi markabe-ga,

Thanks for your question.

It actually made the papers. David Warren Moore is the person you are
thinking of. He was sentenced and jailed for six years in 1986 for sex
offenses with minors. There was also a connection to another man, a
William John "Bill" Hurrey, a radio personality, who was convicted a
week prior to Moore. The article can be read for a small fee at the
Syndey Morning Herald's web site along with several others.

"How a White Mercedes Led to a Tiff, Then Disgrace," by Greg Roberts.
Sydney Morning Herald, November 15, 1986, p. 11.

Do a search on David Warren Moore, make sure you select the entire
archive to search.

Sydney Morning Herald 
http://newsstore.smh.com.au/apps/newsSearch.ac?/index.html

Some more details can be found at these sites:

Inquiry into Allegations of Misconduct in the Investigation of
Paedophilia in Queensland, August 1998
http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/library/CMCWEBSITE/kimmin.pdf

Inquiry into Allegations of Misconduct in the Investigation of
Paedophilia in Queensland - February 1999
http://www.cmc.qld.gov.au/library/CMCWEBSITE/ref5kimi.pdf

SEARCH STRATEGY
Google Search (Also searched http://www.alltheweb.com)
wombat australian tv show
wombat child molestation
wombat "david moore"
"david warren moore"
"william john hurrey"
sydney morning herald

I hope that answers your question. If need additional information,
please ask for clarification before rating my answer and I'll do my
best to assist you.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga

According to a message board, Gordon Piper was found not guilty of
assaulting an 11 year old girl. I couldn't find any more information
about this but I certainly remember it being big news here.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/filmnet/message/17
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/filmnet/message/20

There are a couple of articles about Piper as well. Use the search
interface I linked above for Sydney Morning Herald/Fairfax
publications and you'll pull up a number of pieces that verify
stressedmum's information.

Regards,
luciaphile-ga