Penrith: Appal Sami Naidu pleads not guilty to sex charge
A man has entered a plea of not guilty to allegations he procured a 15-year-old girl for sex at a Penrith bus stop.
Penrith
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A civil engineer who police allege offered to pay a 15-year-old girl for sex at a Penrith bus stop will fight the charges in court.
Appal Sami Naidu, 51, of Penrith, appeared before Magistrate Brian van Zuylen in Penrith Local Court on Monday, February 17.
He pleaded not guilty to a charge of procure child under 16 for unlawful sexual activity.
His lawyer applied for bail, saying Naidu did not know his alleged victim and had no way of contacting her.
In court, she said Naidu works for LendLease and would agree to live at an address in Penrith and not go within 100 metres of the Penrith bus interchange or the Penrith railway station.
She said Naidu worked as a civil engineer installing NBN services and was the sole carer for his wife who suffered mobility issues due to a car accident.
However the prosecutor opposed bail, saying the facts were concerning.
He said Naidu offered to smoke cannabis with the alleged victim before offering to pay her to come to his house and have sex with him on Monday, February 10.
The alleged victim was said to have felt “uncomfortable”, and later told her family about the incident before reporting it to police.
He also said police had CCTV footage of Naidu speaking to the girl, and he was arrested wearing the same clothes.
Magistrate van Zuylen granted bail and adjourned the matter to March 2.
A spokesman for Lendlease told the Press Naidu was not employed by the company.