Eyre Peninsula bakery owner was in love triangle with teen worker and his wife, court hears

A couple who owned an Eyre Peninsula bakery were involved in a ‘love triangle’ with a teenage employee, but only after she turned 17, a court has heard.

A former bakery owner accused of having an unlawful sexual relationship with a teenage employee in the 1980s has told a court their ‘love triangle’ with his wife didn’t start until the girl was older than 17.

On Friday, the man, who The Advertiser has chosen not to name to protect the identity of the alleged victims, adamantly denied claims he had engaged in sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old female employee of his Eyre Peninsula bakery in the 1980s before she reached the age of consent.

The man has been charged with indecent assault, unlawful sexual intercourse and sexual abuse of a child, while his former wife has also been charged with unlawful sexual intercourse and sexual abuse of a child.

Both the man and the woman have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Giving evidence on Friday, the man told the jury he had never made any inappropriate comments to one of two young female victims before her 17th birthday, and denied allegations he had been sleeping with her as a child.

“Did you ever say things to (the girl) such as ‘you haven’t been with a man unless you’ve been with me’ or talk about threesomes in front of the female employees?” defence lawyer Sarah Burgess asked the man.

“No,” he replied.

“Did you ever inquire about sexual matters from people who worked in the bakery?”

“No.”

“Did you ever speak in a childlike manner to young women at the bakery?”

“No.”

Prosecutor Lisa Dunlop previously told the court the former owner had allegedly groomed the young employees in the 1980s before getting his wife involved and made them pseudo members of his family and fathered their children.

The man and the woman have pleaded not guilty in court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

Ms Dunlop said while the man maintained a relationship with the first victim, he also allegedly sparked up a relationship with another 15-year-old girl who worked at his bakery, and eventually forced both victims to engage in “threesomes”.

She said the one of the alleged victims also lived with the married couple for a certain time and fell pregnant with the accused man’s child.

In his evidence on Thursday, a former employee of the bakery told the court the owner used to brag about wanting a lot of children, and said he would regularly flirt with the young women working with him.

The man on Friday told the court he had sex with one of the alleged victims, but only after she had turned 17.

“How many times would you say you had sexual intercourse with (the girl) in the bakery office room after she turned 17?” Ms Burgess asked.

“About half a dozen times,” the man said.

He also told the court that he, the alleged victim and his then wife had custom necklaces made to represent their ‘love triangle’.

“It was a triangle, to represent the three of us, with a circle in the middle and a cross in the middle of that,” he said.

The trial continues.