A BATHURST man accused of sexually assaulting two young children in his care has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
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The man, who cannot be identified to protect the identities of the complainants, was arraigned in Bathurst District Court on Monday on nine charges, including an allegation he used a spoon to sexually assault a young victim.
The trial, expected to go for five days, is being heard before Judge Colefax.
In her opening address, Madam Crown outlined to the jury the evidence they should expect to hear during the course of the trial.
She said she anticipated the jury would hear the complainants were both living with their mother at the time of the alleged offences in 2009.
Madam Crown told the jury the accused was known to the complainants and had looked after the children on a number of occasions when their mother was at work.
Their mother had gone to police in 2009 after the children first raised allegations of abuse, but at that time the very young girls were not interviewed by police.
The allegations were again reported to police in 2017 when arrangements were made for the two girls to be interviewed.
Madam Crown said the jury could anticipate they would hear evidence that for the first few times the accused had looked after the young girls he had “acted like a regular person”.
However, after that the man had become more harsh and yelled at them”.
Madam Crown said two counts related to the first complainant.
She anticipates the jury will hear evidence the accused told the child, who was watching television at the time, to pull down her pants and sit with her legs open.
She said she anticipated the evidence would be that the accused also told the complainant to pull off her pants before telling the second complainant to go and get a spoon, which she did.
The accused allegedly used the circular end of the spoon to penetrate the young girl, “causing her sharp pain”.
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It is also alleged the accused used a camera to take between five and 10 pictures of the young girl’s vagina.
Madam Crown said the jury could anticipate to hear evidence that the accused had told the young girl he was doing it “for health reasons” and it was “natural”. He also told her “not to tell anybody”.
She said she anticipated the jury would hear evidence from the complainant that when she was interviewed by police she told them the accused “did similar things to her sister”.
Other evidence expected to be heard during the trial includes an allegation the accused vaginally penetrated one of the girls with his penis, made one girl touch his penis and forced one to suck a dildo.
The charges against the accused include three counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 years under authority; an alternate charge of assault, commit an act of indecency to a person under 16 years; two counts of producing child pornography; and three counts of inciting a child under 10 years to commit an act of indecency.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The trial continues.