Singer Daniel James Stoneman is released on bail after being accused of raping women he met on dating apps

A Queensland musician accused of 52 offences, including sexual harassment, after allegedly contacting women online will spend his first night in his own bed three months after his arrest.

Police allege Daniel James Stoneman, 34, committed the offences after using dating apps and other platforms to contact women in the Brisbane and Gold Coast regions between 2019 and 2023.

The Queensland wedding singer was charged with 18 counts of sexual assault and related offences in March and April this year after a search warrant was executed on his Logan home in March.

Following further investigations, 34 additional charges were added in May, including 24 counts of distributing intimate images, four counts of rape and one count each of attempted rape, strangulation, invasion of privacy recordings and unauthorized stalking.

No objections were lodged.

Prosecutors will claim in court that at least eight different women have filed complaints, four of whom have claimed they were raped and six have claimed their images were distributed without their consent.

Stoneman applied for bail in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday.

His lawyer Craig Eberhardt KC told the court that his client had “not been able to cope” with the time spent in custody, which had damaged his mental health.

The court was also told that two of the alleged victims were aware that Stoneman was filming them and that one of them was allegedly even encouraged by him to forward the video to others.

Mr Eberhardt said that while the charges relating to the distribution of the images were not the focus of the bail application, the court would have to consider whether the plaintiff was “in distress at all”.

The lawyer said that because one of the plaintiffs shared the video with others, Stoneman’s “state of mind” at the time the material was distributed was not “evil” because he believed she had no problem with it based on her own actions.

Judge Bradley said he found the argument that the alleged offence was “less serious” because the woman had sent the same video to someone else “extremely unattractive”.

“Are we back in the world where we say that raping a woman who has sex with her is not so bad?”

“One would hope that you would not focus on what was done to women in the 1950s.”

Mr Eberhardt said that he did not mean to claim that the woman was to blame with his argument. However, the public prosecutor must successfully prove how much suffering the plaintiff had suffered as a result of the distribution of the video.

“It’s too difficult to say whether these issues will be controversial or not,” he said.

Mr Eberhardt said Stoneman would accept strict conditions if released on bail, including a curfew and telling prosecutors when he intends to enter into a “non-platonic” relationship.

He would also agree not to use social media or dating apps and to see a counselor to learn more about relationships.

The prosecutor objected to the bail application.

The prosecutor said there would be risks to women in the community if Stoneman were released on bail, even if he were banned from using dating apps.

She said she was worried that “he might meet women in the real world.”

“What risk is mitigated by telling my office?” she said.

“He meets women in the real world, that’s risky.”

Judge Bradley granted Stoneman bail under strict conditions.

He is only allowed to leave the house under the supervision of his parents or has made an appointment with a counselor.

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