Wallabies star Kurtley Beale is looking to put 12 months of hell behind him and focus on his new baby with wife Maddie and the end of his rugby career at a foreign club.
Beale, 35, was found not guilty on Friday of allegations he sexually assaulted a woman in the bathroom of a Bondi bar after a grueling two-week trial.
Beale, 35, faced a jury trial at Sydney’s Downing Central Court after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent and two counts of sexual touching.
It marks the end of a year-long court saga for Beale after Rugby Australia dropped him from the NSW Waratahs following his arrest in January 2023.
While Beale maintained a strong front in public, he admitted that in private he was terrified and spent many sleepless nights during the ordeal.
“Oh God, of course, that’s human nature when you’re in a hellish situation like this, those emotions come up late at night when you’re laying there,” Beale said. news corporation after the trial.
Kurtley Beale and his wife Maddi leave during a break in the proceedings at the Downing Center District Court in Sydney.
Beale was recalled by the New South Wales Waratahs and Wallabies during the trial.
“That’s human nature, that natural reaction, we have to doubt and wonder if the truth will ever come out, if things will work out the way they should,” Beale continued.
“I just had to stay focused, train every day, and I was lucky to have people around me that allowed me to do that.”
Beale credited his wife Maddie for being his rock throughout the trial and the couple will welcome their second child in May.
They had their first child, also named Kurtley Beale, just weeks before the alleged assault.
“It was important for me mentally to maintain my normal life, and my wife and our family helped me do that and I am forever grateful,” Beale said.
A relieved Beale hopes to land a new rugby contract in Australia or abroad.
Beale, pictured taking his son, also named Kurtley Beale, for a walk, and his wife Maddie will welcome their second child in May.
Maddie has supported him since the allegations emerged a year ago, admitting: “The last 12 months have been incredibly challenging.”
“It is a great relief that the truth has prevailed,” he said.
“Now we can get out of this hell and enjoy next year and the arrival of our second baby in May.”
As well as welcoming the new baby, Beale said he was hoping to land a rugby contract, either in Australia or overseas.
Outside court, Beale told reporters he was glad “the truth has come out.”
“I have always maintained my innocence. My family and I have suffered a terrible year,” he said.
“I don’t really have big circles of people around me, but the real people that I do have, my family, my best friends, they’ve really supported me through all of this.”