Music store owner to serve six months in jail for sex offences

Mark Higgins.

The owner of a popular Nambour music shop has been jailed over historic child sex offences.

Mark Anthony Higgins, 57, was found guilty in the Maroochydore District Court and convicted on March 3 of two historical charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16 between August 26 1997 and August 27 1998.

Higgins also faced two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 12, but was acquitted by a jury. The music teacher is also the owner of Shake It Up Music, one of the Sunshine Coast’s biggest stores and musical education providers.

Maroochydore District Court Judge Glen Cash sentenced Higgins to one year in jail, but he will only serve six months before he is released and the rest of his sentence suspended for a further six months.

The separate incidents were alleged to have taken place in Palmview and at The Gap in Brisbane.

It was alleged Higgins inappropriately touched a girl on one occasion and exposed himself to her on another.

Higgins pleaded not guilty. He chose to not give evidence and not call any witnesses. 

Shake It Up music is on Currie St in Nambour. Established in 2004 it now spans over three storeys with six teaching rooms. Higgins was also a member of the popular band The Cumquats.

His shops supplied most Sunshine Coast schools and was a preferred supplier for the Queensland Government’s Department of Education and Training. In light of the news Sunshine Coast Grammar has dropped  Shake It Up Music as an equipment supplier.