Stephen Grimmer, brother of Cheryl, refused bail over alleged sexual assaults
The brother of missing toddler Cherly Grimmer, who disappeared from a south coast beach in 1970, has fronted court charged with sexual assault.
Illawarra Star
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The older brother of murdered toddler Cheryl Grimmer has been refused bail over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman several times between 2016 and 2018.
Stephen Grimmer, 55, was arrested at his Mt Saint Thomas home at 7.35am on Friday, just weeks after police announced a $1 million reward for anyone with information that could lead to the conviction of his sister’s killer.
The 55-year-old was charged with two counts of attempted aggravated sexual assault and one count of aggravated sexual assault, after a 30-year-old woman reported that she’d been sexually assaulted by Grimmer on numerous occasions.
In documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court on Monday, police allege Grimmer assaulted the woman, who is known to him, on three occasions between 2016 and 2018, each time at his Mt St Thomas home.
On June 6 last year, the woman gave a statement to police, where it’s alleged she detailed three of the alleged incidents.
The first incident allegedly occurred in Grimmer’s Mt St Thomas garage, where police allege in court documents that he “pushed the victim’s shoulders and forced her to her hands and
knees”, before allegedly trying to put his penis in her mouth. The woman told Grimmer “no” before pulling away.
The second incident allegedly occurred in Grimmer’s living room, where he had sex with the woman knowing she was not consenting, court documents state.
In court documents, police allege on another occasion, Grimmer tried to force the woman’s head down to his penis while they sat on the couch together. Police say the incident only stopped when Grimmer’s phone rang, prompting him to get off the couch.
In applying for bail in front of magistrate Robert Walker on Monday, Grimmer’s lawyer argued the case against him “wasn’t particularly strong”.
Magistrate Walker rejected this claim, saying it seemed to be a “very strong case”, and that no bail conditions could mitigate the risk he posed to the community.
He also noted Grimmer is due to be sentenced on three indecent assault charges in just a few weeks time, after pleading guilty to the offences in October.
The charges stem from several incidents at a south coast holiday park in 2016, where Grimmer molested a 14-year-old girl.
Magistrate Walker noted he would likely receive a prison sentence for these offences, and rejected the application for bail.
Grimmer was arrested and charged for the indecent assault matters in 2017, just one month after a Victorian man was extradited to NSW and charged with the murder of his little sister Cheryl, who disappeared from Fairy Meadow Beach near Wollongong in 1970.
The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions has since dropped all charges against the man, after a crucial piece of evidence was ruled out of his murder trial.
Since then, police have upped the reward for information about Cheryl’s to $1 million, hopeful the incentive could lead to an arrest.
Grimmer will return to the district court for sentencing on February 17, and the Local Court for the new sexual assault matters in April.
There is no suggestion Stephen Grimmer had anything to do with his sister’s disappearance or murder, he was just a six at the time.