Ben Camarsh, 26, charged with alleged teen sexual touching at all-ages festival
A man has faced court over the alleged sexual touching of a teenage girl at a Sydney festival.
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A Western Sydney University rugby league player and gym junkie has been accused of sexually touching a teenage girl at the Juice Wrld all-ages festival.
Ben Camarsh, 26, of North Richmond was arrested and charged for allegedly touching a 14-year-old girl at the Hordern Pavilion-based festival on Friday night.
Camarsh appeared before Penrith Local Court magistrate, Brian Van Zuylen on Monday — while his girlfriend and family members supported him from the gallery.
He was charged with two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child aged 10 to 16 years and was granted bail on Monday afternoon.
Magistrate Van Zuylen said Camarsh put the victim’s boyfriend on his shoulders before leading them to the mosh pit.
“Camarsh then allegedly touched the victim, which caused her to run away from the scene before she was found by security and taken to police,” he said.
The 26-year-old’s lawyer argued the only concern regarding bail would be potential interference with prosecution witnesses, and said that would be easily avoided with a relevant bail condition.
The lawyer argued Camarsh had “no previous criminal history, and strong family ties in North Richmond”, meaning he wasn’t a flight risk.
He said Camarsh agreed to meet police at Windsor police station, and argued that if he’d wanted to leave, he would have done it then.
He also argued the fact Camarsh wasn’t identified by the complainant, but by a friend of hers, meant the prosecution’s case was “weak”.
However, the prosecution opposed bail, saying there was an “unacceptable risk of endangering the community”.
They argued these were “serious accusations in a public setting on a victim who was extremely vulnerable due to her age”.
The prosecutor argued that now Camarsh knew the maximum penalty for his charges was 10 years, he may not show up to his next court appearance.
Magistrate van Zuylen said he acknowledged the seriousness of the charge, but granted Camarsh bail to appear before the Downing Centre on December 12.
The North Richmond man was issued strict bail conditions that restrict him from attending any other festivals, excluding him from entering the Hordern Pavilion and must comply with random drug and alcohol testing from NSW Police.
The 26-year-old was arrested by detectives at Windsor Police Station around 10.30am on Sunday, November 24.
Police will allege in court that Carmash approached the 14-year-old girl and her friends on the dance floor at all-ages concert.
“The man sexually touched the girl as he attempted to lead her toward the stage and away from the group,” the spokesman said. “The girl reported the incident to her mother, who was also in attendance, and police were notified.”
Camarsh played for a Western Sydney University Hawkesbury Campus league team.
Editor's note: All charges against Ben Camarsh relating to this matter have been dismissed