A convicted sex offender who lured two teenage girls to his Bellambi house with the promise of cigarettes, only to molest them, has been sentenced to almost five years' jail.
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Michael Dacich tried to kiss one of the girls and touch her on the leg during one encounter inside his home, while he exposed himself to the second girl and attempted to rub her breasts and vagina during a second, separate encounter.
Dacich, who was placed on the Child Protection Register (CPR) for life after being convicted of indecent assault charges, was arrested and charged in March last year after the teens reported the abuse to police.
Dacich pleaded guilty to two counts of intentionally sexually touch a child under 16 years and one count of carrying out a sexual act with another without consent.
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In Wollongong District Court on Friday, Judge Robert Sutherland sentenced Dacich to an overall prison term of four years and nine months. He set a non-parole period of three years, meaning with time served, Dacich will become eligible to apply for parole in March 2022.
A set of agreed facts tendered to the court said the 73-year-old repeatedly had the two teens over to his place in separate visits, despite his CPR conditions banning him from having any contact with children without prior written approval from police.
During one visit, Dacich gave the first victim cigarettes while they sat on the lounge, then told her "bet you get all the boys and things because you're sexy and pretty and that".
The girl told police she didn't reply but felt scared. Dacich approached her, rubbed her leg for about 10 seconds then grabbed her hair and pulled her head back in an attempt to kiss her.
She managed to escape the house.
Dacich also lured the second victim into his house with the promise of cigarettes, however he was more forceful with his advances this time, taking the girl into the bedroom, closing the door behind them and taking his pants off.
He then pushed her onto his bed and fondled her, ignoring her demands that he stop.
He also tried to pull her pants down as she struggled against him. She eventually pushed him off and grabbed her clothing but Dacich stood in front of her and told her not to tell anyone what had happened before then allowing her to leave.
When interviewed following his arrest, Dacich admitted he'd breached his CPR conditions by having unsupervised access to the two girls but denied sexually touching them, claiming he was incapable of getting an erection.
Judge Sutherland noted Dacich had had an unhappy and abusive childhood at the hands of a violent father but had gone on to have a "stable, loving" marriage that lasted almost three decades until Dacich was jailed for his role in an armed robbery in the 1990s and his wife left him.
He said a psychiatrist who interviewed and assessed Dacich placed him in the "moderate to high risk category" of reoffending sexually, despite his advancing years.
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