Dating app chat key to arrest of man, partner over foster kid abuse, court told

An Adelaide man boasted on a popular dating app about abusing his ex-partner’s children, a court has been told.

A man accused of abusing two foster children was caught after boasting, on a dating app, he had “sexually assaulted his ex’s kids”, a court has heard.

On Thursday, the Adelaide Magistrates Court heard a woman on Tinder played a key role in the arrest of the man and his former partner - the children’s foster mother - for a raft of child sex offences.

An SA Police prosecutor urged the court to reject the man’s application to live, on home detention bail, with his mother near a suburban retirement village.

She said the man posed a great and ongoing risk to the entire community because of the “grave and serious” nature of his alleged crimes.

“He was originally arrested for possessing child exploitation material, after a complaint was made to police by an adult female,” she said.

“She had met him on a dating app, and he told her he had sexually assaulted his ex’s kids.

“Upon his arrest, his devices were seized and 31,500 exploitation images were found... victim identification commenced, and the victims were found to be (the ex-partner’s) two children.”

The man, 36, has yet to plead to four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and two counts of communicating to making a child amenable to sex.

He is further charged with 12 counts of producing child exploitation material.

The man’s ex-partner, 44, is charged with two counts of communicating to making a child amenable to sex and 13 counts of producing child exploitation material.

A tip-off after an alleged conversation on dating app Tinder led to the man’s arrest.

She is further charged with three counts of disseminating that material, and four counts of permitting unlawful sexual intercourse at her residential premise.

Prosecutors have alleged the couple facilitated the repeated sexual abuse of two foster children, a boy and girl who have been in the woman’s care since they were just weeks old.

They have further alleged they discussed their conduct in 30,000 text messages and went “spotting” in shopping malls for more victims.

The man’s first attempt at bail failed when the address he proposed was found to be just 160m from an early learning centre.

On Thursday, the prosecutor said the man’s crimes - ranging from planning “violent rapes” to fetish acts of degradation and humiliation - were too serious to warrant bail.

She said the children had given statements to police detailing how they hid their faces under pillows and toys “so they wouldn’t have to see what” the man “was doing to them”.

“The female co-accused has given a record of interview stating she wanted to please the man sexually and he suggested (the abuse),” she said.

“She stated she knew about the abuse and, when the man went into the children’s rooms, she would ‘just wait in the lounge room’.”

Counsel for the man conceded the case against his client was “strong” and the allegations “undoubtedly serious”, but said he had no prior history and a supportive family willing to serve as guarantors.

Magistrate Michael Fotheringham refused bail, saying releasing the man posed too great a risk to the community.

He remanded him in custody until next year.