Former Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the State Opera of South Australia Timothy Sexton has pleaded not guilty to multiple child sex charges in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, the ABC reported. Magistrate Elizabeth Sheppard has dismissed an application by Sexton’s lawyers to extend the suppression orders that kept Sexton’s identity from being published until yesterday.

Sexton pleaded not guilty to two counts of being in an unlawful sexual relationship with a minor, one count of indecent assault and one count of having sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 18 years old. The prosecutors allege the offences occurred in South Australia between 1988 and 1991.

Sexton’s association with SOSA as a singer, chorus master and conductor spanned 20 years before he took up the position of Artistic Director and Chief Executive in 2011. He stepped down in May last year citing “personal reasons”, with Stuart Maunder taking over as Artistic Director and Yarmila Alfonzetti joining as Executive Director of SOSA earlier this year.

“[Sexton] advised that for personal reasons he was going to resign,” SOSA chairman John Irving told Limelight last year. “I spoke with him at length and agreed with him that was...