Man with indecent treatment charges sentenced in Hervey Bay District Court

A man targeted his stepdaughter’s group of friends in “despicable” breaches of trust which included naked massages and “forced” shaving.

A Fraser Coast man groped multiple young girls while under his supervision and shaved the pubic hair of an 18-year-old after being convicted in 2021 for similar offences, a court has heard.

A Fraser Coast man groped multiple young girls while under his supervision and shaved the pubic hair of an 18-year-old after being convicted in 2021 for similar offences, a court has heard.

The man, who cannot be named, committed his most recent offending in 2023.

He met the sister of his stepdaughter’s boyfriend, a 14-year-old, at the victim’s house where he pretended to clean hair dye off her.

He pulled down her pants and scrubbed her buttocks with a sponge, and scrubbed her chest before she told him to stop.

In what Crown Prosecutor Michael Gawrych said was the man pretending to look at the girl’s moles, he pulled down her pants, before removing her top and squeezing her breasts.

The complainant became emotionally distressed after these actions.

In another instance of indecent treatment, the man grabbed her by the waist and told the young girl to turn around, when he then tightly squeezed and slapped her buttocks.

He then drove the victim and other females in his car on another occasion, where he made a comment saying that she “had something in her pants”.

He then began rubbing the outside of her genitalia before she left the car

The man was not done there, as he then targeted his stepdaughter’s friend, an 18-year-old woman.

Around late June or early July, 2023, the woman was staying at the man’s house where he made “numerous” sexual remarks, including asking her to try on a “G-string”.

The man tricked one of his victims into thinking she was getting her moles checked.

After an argument with another person in the house, the man grabbed the 18-year-old by the arm, told her to sit down, and began asking her sexually-charged questions, including questions specifically relating to her pubic hair.

He then led her to a bathroom and pulled down her clothing, before grabbing an electric razor to shave her pubic hair.

He stopped when she said she was uncomfortable, but persisted with the sexual questioning that he began with minutes earlier.

The man also offered to give her a massage and questioned whether it would be OK if she could do it naked.

She indicated she would not be comfortable, but took her clothes off anyway.

The man’s partner walked into the room, but laughed and left again when he told her it was just a massage.

Finally, the man targeted a 15-year-old who was also friends with his stepdaughter.

During a birthday party for his stepdaughter, he put the girl on his lap next to a backyard fire.

The court heard she then went inside to put drinks in the fridge, but he followed her and rubbed his hand on her stomach, commenting on her piercing.

He gave the girl alcohol, and he rubbed her hand on the inside of her thigh as she was trying to sleep after she became drunk.

The man’s partner walked into the room during one altercation, but laughed and left the when the man told her he was just giving the victim a massage.

Mr Gawrych noted the man he was convicted of two charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16 in 2021, in which he removed a 14-year-old’s bra and touched her breasts before inappropriately touching her.

He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for those charges, which was to be suspended after four months served, leaving only months between his sentence to end and his next offences to begin.

Defence Barrister Jack Kennedy said his client was the victim of three sexual assaults in his younger years, and suffered PTSD as a result of his past.

“What saddens and concerns me is that hasn’t in any way stopped you from continuing the cycle,” Judge Ian Dearden said on the man’s diagnosis and past trauma.

“The offending itself is appalling and despicable.”

He pleaded guilty to charges of indecent treatment of a child under 16, indecent treatment of a child under 16 under care, and sexual assault.

He was sentenced to a head sentence of four years and will be eligible for parole on March 25, 2025, with 453 days already in custody declared as time served.

Convictions were recorded.