A TATHRA man charged with a string of child sex offences has pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced in February.
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The 59-year-old man was arrested in Bega in September after six males raised separate allegations in relation to sexual abuse and indecent assault.
The males were all aged between eight and 16 when the incidents allegedly took place at Tathra between 2006 and 2014.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Bega Local Court on Tuesday on 23 separate matters.
The court heard 12 of those charges had been replaced by the more serious charge of "persistent sexual abuse of a child.
The new charge – under Section 66EA of the NSW Crimes Act – carries a maximum 25 years’ imprisonment.
The man entered a guilty plea to all charges.
He was previously granted bail with strict conditions.
However, in light of the guilty plea, the Director of Public Prosecutions made an application for detention, saying there was “an unacceptable risk for this person to remain at liberty”.
The DPP highlighted that the man was “not without the means to get away from jurisdiction” and that “now he’s admitted his guilt to the court, the thought of likely incarceration will weigh heavily on him”.
Magistrate Doug Dick refused the detention application, meaning the current bail conditions will continue as well as be applied to the fresh charge.
However, he amended the reporting obligations of the bail conditions, increasing the number of days the man has to report to Merimbula Police Station from three days a week to five.
He said the bail conditions already in place were stringent, including the man surrendering his passport, being banned from coming within a 5km radius of Tathra, not being allowed to contact any of the alleged victims, and staying with family members away from Tathra in addition to the reporting to police daily from Monday to Friday.
Magistrate Dick committed the man on all indictable offences to the District Court for sentencing on February 2, 2015.
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