An alleged paedophile has been granted bail and had his identity protected after facing court in Canberra accused of grooming a 13-year-old girl.
The 53-year-old from Red Hill, faced ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday after being arrested a day earlier and charged with using a carriage service to groom a child aged under 16 and using a carriage service to procure a child under 16 for sexual activity.
The court heard he was a “successful person”, allowed him to appear from a remote room inside the court building, and issued a non-publication order on the accused’s name, profession, business and ethnicity, The Canberra Times reported.
Police allege the man began grooming the girl in 2023, and said they began an investigation after receiving a report about an alleged “inappropriate relationship”.
Prosecutor Corinne Kennedy opposed bail, and told the court the man had ingratiated himself into the girl’s family to facilitate his alleged crimes, and was in a “position of power over the compliant child”, and said he was likely to interfere with evidence, fail to reappear, and endanger the safety and welfare of others.
Defence barrister Kieran Ginges told the court that just because her client “has the means as a successful person” did not mean he was a flight risk, and said he could not interfere with evidence as his electronic devices had been seized by police, calling his client “unquestionably a person of prior good character”.
Ms Kennedy said a letter of support from a family member saying the alleged offences were out of character should be treated with “a large amount of scepticism”, as “the nature of these offences are that these are insidious and hardly one to be promoted in public and outwardly”.
But Magistrate Glenn Theakston granted bail on the condition the man not be alone with any child under 16.
The accused is yet to enter a plea and will reappear in court next month.
Header image credit: ACT Courts.
The post ‘Successful’ alleged Canberra paedophile given bail and identity protection first appeared on The Noticer.
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