Former judge facing new child sex charges

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 3:40pm

Fri 5 Jun 2026 at 3:40pm

A former judge and university lecturer has been accused of travelling overseas and engaging in sexual activity with a child.

Alan Boulton, 75, was charged last year after an incident where child abuse images were allegedly shown to students at Monash University’s law chambers in the Melbourne CBD.

On Friday, the Melbourne Magistrates' Court was told the case against him would change significantly, with some existing charges to be withdrawn by Victorian prosecutors and new charges to be laid by their counterparts in New South Wales.

Charge sheets released by the court reveal Mr Boulton was charged in March with engaging in sexual activity with a child under 16 outside Australia.

The alleged crime occurred on June 14, 2016, and did not include sexual intercourse, prosecutors said. No other details were included in the charge sheets.

Mr Boulton is also facing a charge of possessing child abuse material on a computer or data storage device on February 12, 2025.

Mr Boulton, whose Melbourne and Sydney properties were raided by police last year, is a former senior deputy director of the Fair Work Commission.

A prosecutor said charges would be laid against Mr Boulton in NSW in the coming months, which would lead to the Victorian court case being halted.

On Friday, Magistrate Leon Fluxman denied a bid by Mr Boulton’s barrister Holly Baxter to block the media’s access to the charge sheets.

Ms Baxter said the remaining charges related to six images and one video.

She said the parties were "fully engaged in resolution discussions".

Mr Boulton is no longer employed by Monash University.

He remains on bail and watched Friday’s proceedings via video link, dressed in a shirt and tie.

Last year, he was granted permission to travel to Europe after his lawyers told a magistrate he had spent a "serious amount" on the trip.