A Barrack Heights man accused of sexually abusing his granddaughter multiple times over a five-year period has been refused bail.
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The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Wollongong Bail Court on Saturday charged with three counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10 and two counts of indecent assault.
The man, aged in his mid-70s, is accused of interfering with the girl on at least five occasions, including in the backyard and a bedroom at his home, and while they swam in a public pool.
The court was told the alleged abuse, reported to the Wollongong Child Abuse Squad in December, began when the girl was aged 5 and ended when she was 10.
Police documents tendered in court claim the first incident happened between January and April in 2005, when the man allegedly digitally penetrated the girl as he helped her climb a tree in the backyard of his home.
The man is accused of cupping his hands under her bottom to assist her, before slipping his hands through her underwear, touching the outside of her vagina and then inserting his fingers.
The court also heard, on another occasion, the girl was lying on the bed in an upstairs spare bedroom when he allegedly placed his hand on her thigh and slowly moved it up her leg and molesting her.
In April 2006, while swimming in a heated pool at the Kiama Leisure Centre, the man allegedly touched the girl’s vagina on the outside of her swimmers as he swam under the water between her legs.
Police allege the man indecently assaulted the girl while they were at the swimming pool “on an ongoing basis” between the ages of five and 10.
In opposing bail, police prosecutor Sergeant Coby Davis said the accused was facing “very serious charges” and raised concerns about the protection of the victim and the community.
“He is in no way a flight risk. He is not a risk to the community,” the man’s solicitor, Trevor Wells, told Registrar Kathy Frost.
Mr Wells told the court that, while serious, the allegations were “isolated in terms of the people involved”.
Registrar Frost formally refused bail and adjourned the matter to Monday.
The man was supported in court by his wife and two adult children, who were visibly upset during proceedings.
