Mark Vernon Anderson tells police he was counselling alleged child victim

The man accused of a slew of child sex abuse offences worked as a counsellor and was a sex worker before asking a teen for his faeces, a court has heard.

A former sex worker was acting as a counsellor to a bisexual teen when he asked him to sell him his underwear and defecate on him, a court has heard.

In a recorded police interview taken when Adelaide man Mark Vernon Anderson, 54, was arrested, and played to the court, he told officers he counselled the 14-year-old boy he stands accused of maintaining a relationship with.

The Adelaide District Court heard Mr Anderson, who was known as “Max”, worked as a counsellor for the Victorian and NSW AIDS Councils.

During the interview, Mr Anderson told police he thought 13-year-old was a reasonable age to discuss sexuality if it was done on the phone and through a counsellor.

Mr Anderson was asked by an officer if he had a “poo fetish”.

A stock photo of a boy at a door. Photo: iStock

Mr Anderson said, “no comment” before holding his head in his hands, then saying his sex life was private.

He then told the officer he had been a sex worker for almost two decades and would “try anything once” before explaining his life as a sex worker.

“I did sex work for 19 years, there’s not a lot I haven’t done and not a lot of people I haven’t done,” he said.

In a separate interview with a 13-year-old boy who the allegations also relate to, played before the court on Monday, the boy told police he had found frozen bags of poo in Mr Anderson’s freezer when he was looking for ice.

The boy told the interviewer Mr Anderson’s house was filthy and his bedroom “smelt like sh**”.

The court last week heard Mr Anderson was living in a CBD apartment near a police station at the time of the alleged offences.

The court heard three children, including a 14-year-old boy, his girlfriend and their friend became frequent visitors to Mr Anderson’s house between June and September 2020.

Mr Walker said Mr Anderson allegedly supplied drugs to the trio – including meth, MDMA and marijuana – and indecently assaulted the boys.

Mr Anderson, of Adelaide, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including supplying drugs to a child, maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child and attempting to incite or procure a child to commit an indecent act.

The trial before Judge Emily Telfer continues.