Police withdraw 13 charges against Warrnambool Koori court elder

Magistrate Olivia Trumble heard in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Tuesday a case had been resolved involving Robert Charles "Locky" Eccles, 70, of Warrnambool.

Mr Eccles had been charged with a total of 19 sex assault charges involving two alleged victims. Six charges remain involving one complainant.

The magistrate said she was expecting to be in Warrnambool hearing a contested committal case.

"I received notification yesterday the matter has resolved. What's the situation? There are 13 charges before me," she asked.

Police confirmed all 13 charges in one case that related to alleged incidents in Warrnambool between February 2006 and December 2008 had been withdrawn.

In mid-May this year a court heard Mr Eccles, a Warrnambool Koori court elder and well-known football umpire, was facing two separate court hearings in coming months. The first was July 25 and the second was a two-day committal hearing to be held from August 28 in the Geelong Magistrates Court.

That hearing, which is still listed in Geelong, is expected to involve the complainant, his partner and his grandmother, who police allege took the complainant to massage appointments at Mr Eccles' home.

At the mid-May hearing magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said he understood Mr Eccles had a past association with the Warrnambool court.

Mr Lethbridge said it was not appropriate the Warrnambool court be a venue for hearings other than administrative hearings.

"Any other court should hear it. It should be dealt with at another venue," he said at the time.

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