County Court: Cranbourne East’s Alan Leah to consider withdrawing plea to child sexual assault charges

A Melbourne father who allegedly asked a girl to perform a sex act on him near a school “before the bell” wants to withdraw his previous plea of guilty.

Cranbourne East’s Alan Leah was charged with child sexual assault and sexual activity in the presence of a child.

One month after pleading guilty to the alleged sexual assault of a girl at Frankston, a Melbourne dad has told a court he will consider withdrawing the plea.

Cranbourne East’s Alan Leah pleaded guilty to child sexual assault and sexual activity in the presence of a child in the County Court via videolink last month.

But on Thursday, Mr Leah appeared in court before Judge Anne Hassan where his lawyer requested an adjournment for his client to consider changing his plea.

Defence lawyer Martin Kozlowski said more evidence regarding Mr Leah’s mental health at the time of the alleged offending had been obtained but an updated report was yet to be finalised.

The court previously heard Mr Leah had symptoms of bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety and was seeing a professional but the previous psychological report did not adequately convey that.

It is alleged that between June 2020 and February 2021, the then 31-year-old sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl and performed sexual acts in front of her at Frankston and Langwarrin.

Mr Kozlowski said he needed to discuss the complexities of changing the plea with his client and asked for longer than the proposed two week adjournment.

However, Judge Hassan rejected the request and said Mr Leah needed to decide before the next mention date and should explore options such as new legal representation.

The matter was adjourned to October 19.