Content warning: This article discusses allegations of sexual assault against older women. Support services are listed at the end.
A former nurse charged with raping three elderly patients at Brisbane’s Greenslopes Private Hospital has faced a committal hearing, where the court was told one of the women has since died.
Jeremy David Pearce, 42, a former enrolled nurse, faces three counts of rape. The charges relate to women in their 80s who were patients at the hospital between 2020 and 2024. The allegations have not been tested at trial, and Mr Pearce is presumed innocent.
The hearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday also revealed that a third rape charge has been laid since his arrest last year, and that the hospital investigated a complaint about Mr Pearce in 2020 that did not go to police at the time.
Detectives from the Dutton Park Criminal Investigation Branch arrested Mr Pearce at a home in Riverhills, in Brisbane’s south-west, shortly before 9am on 5 November 2025, according to Queensland Police.
He was initially charged with two counts of rape. Police allege the offences were committed against two women in their 80s at the hospital on 7 January 2020 and 28 December 2024, while he was working as a nurse. He was 41 at the time of his arrest and was not named in the police statement.
The officer in charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Rodney Watts, described offending of this kind as “a reprehensible breach of trust”. He praised the bravery of victim-survivors who came forward and urged anyone with information, or with similar experiences, to contact police or Crime Stoppers.
A third rape charge was later added, relating to an alleged offence sometime in 2021.
Mr Pearce’s committal hearing began in Brisbane Magistrates Court on Monday, 2 November 2026. A committal hearing is where a magistrate decides whether there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial in a higher court.
At the start of proceedings, the court was told that one of the three complainants had died. Prosecutors do not allege her death was connected to the alleged offending, the ABC reported.
Prosecutor Patrick Bates pressed for the hearing to go ahead that day, citing the age of the two surviving women and the emotional strain the process was placing on them. “They are deeply concerned by the court process,” he told the court.
Both women gave evidence and were cross-examined in a closed court. Mr Pearce sat behind a privacy screen so the women would not have to see him.
When the court reopened, several of his former colleagues were questioned about events at the hospital. The court heard one of the complainants had been shocked and upset at the time and had difficulty describing what allegedly happened.
The hearing was told the hospital had looked into a complaint about Mr Pearce in 2020. According to his barrister, Kim Bryson, that matter was not referred to police at the time. It was investigated internally, found to be unsubstantiated and dismissed.
Ms Bryson told the court it was not until 2025 that police contacted the complainant in that matter.
Greenslopes Private Hospital is run by Ramsay Health Care and is one of Australia’s largest private hospitals. In a statement at the time of the arrest, Ramsay said Mr Pearce had been stood down in December 2024 and did not return to work. That is the same month as the most recent alleged offence.
Queensland’s Office of the Health Ombudsman suspended Mr Pearce’s registration as an enrolled nurse on 24 November 2025, nearly three weeks after his arrest.
The suspension means he cannot practise in any role anywhere in Australia that uses his nursing skills, including non-clinical roles in management, education or administration. It stays in force until the Health Ombudsman revokes it or the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal sets it aside.
Sexual violence against older women is far more common than public attention suggests. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety estimated that around 50 incidents of unlawful sexual contact occur in residential aged care every week. Some of the cases it heard involved staff.
University of Melbourne researchers have found that Australian media rarely cover sexual violence against women over 60, and that abuse by carers and aged care staff is among the forms most often left out of view.
Advocates say frail older women, particularly those with dementia, can struggle to be believed. One manager of a centre against sexual assault recalled a referral where the response to an older woman’s assault was that she would not remember because of her dementia.
The part-heard committal hearing was adjourned until January 2027. Mr Pearce remains on bail.
Queensland Police continue to ask anyone with information to come forward. Information can be given to Policelink on 131 444, or anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
If this story has raised concerns for you or someone you know, help is available:
In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).
