Former DJ and convicted sex criminal Nicholas Emmanuel Athans charged with 17 offences predating his prison sentence
A former DJ already charged with pursuing teens for sex while on parole for the same crime has been rearrested in his jail cell and charged with 17 more offences.
Police & Courts
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A former DJ and convicted sex offender already accused of “targeting vulnerable people” just hours after being paroled has been charged with falsely imprisoning and raping “numerous” underage girls.
On Tuesday, the Adelaide Magistrates Court heard Nicholas Emmanuel Athans was rearrested in his Mount Gambier Prison cell last week and charged with 17 offences.
Court documents charge him with five counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, four counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of indecent assault.
They further accuse him of three counts of communicating with a child online for sex, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of maintaining the sexual abuse of a child.
That final count – previously known as “maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child” – carries a maximum life sentence.
The documents allege the bulk of offending occurred between 2013 and 2014, predating Athans’ 20-month prison term for grooming teens for sex via social media in 2016 and 2017.
However, the documents allege three offences occurred between 2019 and 2021, while Athans was standing trial.
Three more, they allege, were committed in February this year following Athans’ release on parole for his 2016/17 offending.
Athans, 27, of Ridleyton, was paroled in December last year after completing his prison term for that offending, against girls he met through his Yeah Hard Entertainment DJ business.
He tried and failed to appeal those convictions in 2022, arguing Snapchat photos, which delete themselves upon receipt, should not have led to his conviction.
In a unanimous, precedent-setting decision, the Court of Appeal rejected his claim – protecting the use of Snapchat-related evidence in future sex offending matters.
In February, The Advertiser discovered a profile on the online dating app Hinge in Athans’ name, in which he claimed he “went to jail for something I didn’t do”.
Days later, he was arrested and charged with two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, and two counts of making a child amenable to sexual activity.
At that time, prosecutors alleged Athans had “targeted vulnerable people” online “within hours of his release on parole”.
They further alleged a woman had asserted Athans sexually assaulted her, when she was 14, in February 2014.
Following his arrest, Athans told the court he had filed another appeal over the 2016/17 offending, this time with the High Court.
In a judgment published online last week, however, the High Court rejected his challenge.
It ruled Athans’ argument regarding Snapchat lacked “sufficient prospects of success” and therefore did not warrant intervention.
On Tuesday, prosecutor Amy Fisher told the court those charges would proceed as alleged, but asked they be adjourned until September.
“I appreciate that date is some time away, but Athans has more recently been arrested in relation to numerous offences against numerous complainants,” she said.
“That file (of charges) is directly related to these matters, and we will be making an application that they all be heard together.”
The court also heard Athans’ longtime lawyer, Joseph Henderson, was no longer acting for him and he and would instead be represented by Domenic Agresta.
Asked if his client intended to negotiate with prosecutors, Mr Agresta replied: “I can’t answer that”.
“I’ve just come onto this matter late yesterday … I can advise my client intends to plead not guilty,” he said.
Mr Agresta said he did not oppose the adjournment but asked his client be released on home detention bail, given the length of the delay.
The state’s chief magistrate, Judge Mary-Louise Hribal, declined to order a home detention bail report without first hearing more about the alleged offending.
She granted Ms Fisher’s adjournment but remanded Athans in custody until next week for a continuing bail hearing.
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