An Indian cook has been jailed for at least 13 months for sexually abusing a seven-year-old boy and assaulting another inside an Adelaide function centre.
Ajay Kumar Marria, 64, was sentenced by Judge Emily Tefler in the South Australia District Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to aggravated indecent assault and aggravated assault.
The court heard that Marria came to Australia from India in 2023 on a visitor visa to stay with his son following the death of his wife, cannot speak English, and was working as a cook at the Omni Bar and Function Centre at Hindmarsh as the owner was from the same ethnic group and spoke his language.
On September 6, 2025, two boys, called P and A by the court, came to the centre with their fathers who also worked there, and were playing together inside.
When P was taken to the toilet by his father, leaving A alone, Marria walked up behind him, stroked his chest, took him to an upstairs office space where there was no CCTV, indecently assaulted him, and asked him if he liked it, the court heard.
The abuse was interrupted by A’s father, who was calling his name and searching for him upstairs until he found Marria and his son together. A was upset, ran to his father and told him what had happened.
“A’s father became very angry and punched and pushed you, causing you to fall to the ground, where the assault continued. That behaviour is recorded on closed-circuit television and I have watched that. You left the scene before police arrived,” the judge said.
While investigating the incident police then found CCTV showing Marria earlier that morning drag P across the ground and then forcibly place the boy onto his lap, resulting in the aggravated assault charge.
Marria was then arrested at Port Adelaide Police Station, denied the indecent assault, and was remanded in custody until September 8 when he was granted bail. Four weeks later he pleaded guilty to both charges.
“During submissions I heard a victim impact statement read by A’s father and I read a victim impact statement from P’s father. A’s father described you as having stolen a part of his son’s childhood,” the judge told Marria during sentencing.
“A has difficulties in social situations and is no longer comfortable around people he does not know. You have caused A’s father great stress and anguish because he blames himself for not protecting A from you.”
Marria’s lawyers submitted their client’s time in custody would be more difficult as he does not speak English and is an older man, and Judge Tefler told him: “I accept that prison will be made more difficult for you because of the isolation you will experience due to the language and cultural barriers.”
She also noted that he will be unlikely to be permitted to return to Australia due to his convictions.
The judge also said Marria’s counsel had not offered any explanation for his behaviour, making it difficult for her to assess his future risk and prospects for rehabilitation, and called his offending “brazen and serious”.
“A’s father had every reason to believe he would be safe where he was playing and you took advantage of that. You isolated A from adults in an upstairs room and indecently assaulted him. You stopped only when you were interrupted by his father,” she told Marria.
“Sexual exploitation of children is viewed very seriously by the community. Sexual offending against children can have lifelong consequences for the victim and their families.”
She sentenced Maria to an overall sentence of one year, 10 months and 16 days, with a non-parole period of 13 months, reduced to 12 months and 28 days due to time spend in custody after being arrested.
After the sentence was handed down Marria asked through his interpreter “after that can I go to India?”, to which the judge said it was a question for his lawyers and immigration authorities, and “not something I have any power over”.
Header image: The function centre (Google Street View).
The post Indian cook jailed for just 13 months for sexually abusing boy first appeared on The Noticer.
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