Victorian Liberal who defeated Moira Deeming to be dumped by party over character reference for sex offender

Dinesh Gourisetty has been called a ‘pedophile supporter’ for providing court reference for a friend convicted of sexually assaulting a child

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The Victorian Liberal leader, Jess Wilson, says the man who defeated Moria Deeming for the top spot on the party’s upper house ballot is “not welcome” on her team, after it was revealed he wrote a court character reference for a friend convicted of grooming a 15-year-old girl.

But Dinesh Gourisetty, who defeated Deeming on Sunday in a preselection vote for the party’s candidates for the western metropolitan region at the upcoming November election, has told the executive he won’t step down.