An Illawarra man accused of sexually abusing his step-daughter more than 30 years ago allegedly told her that her mother would disown her if she revealed the abuse to anyone, a court has heard.
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The 60-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stands accused of abusing the girl from the age of 7, beginning when he developed a relationship with the girl's mother in the early 1980s.
It is alleged the abuse occurred on a regular basis for many years and took place when the girl's mother was out of the house at work.
The man allegedly manipulated the child and threatened her to force her into performing a range of sexual acts on him.
The victim, now aged in her early 40s, reported the alleged abuse to police earlier this year.
She told detectives she remembered her step-father at one stage saying "don't let Mum know our secret, she won't want you any more".
She claimed he also told her "if you ever fall pregnant to me, tell them you were raped", allegedly prompting her to reply "no, I'll tell them to do a DNA test, so they know you did it."
Police will allege the man eventually stopped the abuse, however the victim said her life had been plagued by drug and alcohol abuse and domestic violence.
Meanwhile, court documents said the victim's daughter also reported she'd been sexually abused by her step-grandfather, more than 20 years after the alleged offences against her mother.
The granddaughter, now aged 17, claims her step-granddad repeatedly molested her over a period of years while she was in his care.
She recalled one incident where he lured her to the kitchen with a Tim Tam biscuit before digitally raping her.
In another incident, the man allegedly told the girl "sssh, don't tell anyone, don't say a thing, this is our secret", and put his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
Detectives attached to Wollongong child abuse squad arrested the man at his home on August 7.
During an interview with police, the man allegedly corroborated some aspects of the victim's versions of events, but denied the actual abuse allegations, labelling them "ridiculous".
He was released without charge at the time, however re-arrested in October and formally charged with nine child sexual abuse offences.
He was released on conditional bail that included a stipulation that he not be in the presence of a child under 16 except in the company of his biological daughter.
However, police will allege the man had unsupervised contact with three children between 5pm and 6pm last Monday while looking after them in his caravan.
The man was arrested on Saturday after being released from Wollongong Hospital on an unrelated matter.
He was charged with breach of bail and remanded in custody.
Police successfully sought the man's detention in court on Sunday, with prosecuting sergeant Shannon Ryan saying the man posed an unacceptable risk to community safety if released.
Registrar Bruiceen Coulthard refused to release the man and adjourned the matter to Monday, where he is expected to make another bail application before a magistrate.