An Illawarra man who deliberately caused his 15-year-old stepdaughter to expose herself while they were practicing martial arts alone together has escaped a jail sentence for his perverted act.
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The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty in Wollongong Local Court to an aggravated charge of intentionally carrying out a sexual act with child aged 10 to 16 years.
He was sentenced on Friday to a three-year community correction order, which includes 200 hours of unpaid community service work and will be placed on the child sex register.
Court documents reveal the man had invited his stepdaughter to take up professional martial arts lessons with him last year, however cancelled the lessons after a few weeks, telling the girl he'd train her himself.
The court heard on the occasion in question, the man and the girl were home alone when he convinced her to train with him, despite her initial objections because she was tired.
They went into one of the bedrooms and the man shut the door and locked it, before turning to his stepdaughter and unzipping her jumper "in a sexual way".
He then threw it on the bed, leaving her standing in front of him wearing pants and a black sports bra.
The teen told police she turned around to try and grab her jumper but her stepfather took hold of her hips and pulled her back towards him.
She said he showed her a particular move, then took hold of her bra strap and told her to try and get away from him.
The girl told him no as her breasts would fall out of her top, however he told her it was "just skin" and insisted she do it.
She argued with him but eventually relented, allowing him to take hold of her bra straps.
The court heard the man then tugged hard on both straps, causing the girl's breasts to fall out of the top.
This occurred 4-5 times, with the girl falling forward onto her stepfather each time. A knock at the door interrupted the man's plans and he told the girl to put his T-shirt back on.
Court documents reveal the incident was not an isolated one, with the man admitting he'd behaved in a sexual and inappropriate way towards his stepdaughter on more than one occasion in the past.
In court on Friday, Magistrate Claire Girotto noted the victim had provided a statement to the court in which she said admitted she had been fearful to disclose her stepfather's actions because of his position in the family.
She also said the incident had left her fearful of men.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
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