Harold James Climas awaits sentence after jury finds him guilty of vile historical child sex abuse
Harold James Climas will have a nervous wait as a judge considers his sentence after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in 2017 after a T-ball match.
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A Mount Gambier man has been found guilty of sexually abusing a child who tried to ‘block out’ the memory of his vile attack, a court has heard.
Harold James Climas faced a jury trial in the Mount Gambier District Court, where he was found guilty on all three charges in relation to the 2017 sexual assault.
Climas was charged with one count of aggravated indecent assault, unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 14 years and attempted unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 14 years.
In a video of Climas’s arrest that was shown in the trial, Climas can be heard telling the arresting officers “I didn’t touch her”.
During her closing remarks, prosecutor Mollie McKendrick said the victim had tried to “block out” the memory of the sexual assault.
Ms McKendrick told the jury the victim had tried to shut-out memories of the abuse for four years before, in a moment of vulnerability “word vomited” what had happened to her.
Ms McKendrick previously told the court the accused was an opportunistic offender – building up a rapport with his victim by giving her gifts and taking her to Kmart after the assault to buy another present.
Ms McKendrick said the accused had attempted to “force (the victim) into submission and ultimately silence”.
After being picked up from T-ball, the victim went to Climas’ house, before watching a number of movies and eventually going to sleep in the defendant’s guest room, the court heard.
“She was woken in the middle of the night needing to get a drink of water after having a dry throat,” Ms McKendrick said.
When she returned to the guestroom she found “the accused laying a short distance away”.
“She asked him what he was doing, to which he replied that he just wanted some company,” Ms McKendrick said.
“The accused moved closer towards the complainant before placing his hand up her shirt.”
Ms McKendrick told the court the accused then proceeded to touch the girl inappropriately.
“(The victim) will say he was touching me in my parts and he tried to stick his part in,” Ms McKendrick said.
The court heard Climas had “failed” to penetrate the victim “giving up after a couple of tries”.
“After not succeeding, the accused walked off to his room,” Ms McKendrick said.
“The next morning after packing her bag ready to go home, the complainant was approached by the accused at the doorway.”
Climas has been remanded in custody and will next front court in December.
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Originally published as Harold James Climas awaits sentence after jury finds him guilty of vile historical child sex abuse
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