Alleged child sex offender pleads guilty in County Court, claiming he ‘can’t remember’ his offending
A man has blamed his vile sex offending against young girls on a dissociative identity disorder, saying “my normal self wouldn’t have done that”.
South East
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A man who pleaded guilty to sex crimes against three young girls has claimed his offending occurred during a mental health episode, leaving him unable to recall his actions.
But a suppression order prevents the 44-year-old from being intified to “protect his family” from public scrutiny.
The man from southeast fronted the County Court on January 27 for sexually assaulting his friend’s daughters.
He pleaded guilty to multiple charges of indecent acts with a child under 16 and sexual assault spanning from August 2014 to August 2017.
The court heard the father-of-two touched the girls outside of their clothing and underwear, blaming his actions on complex PTSD and dissociative identity disorder.
Defence lawyer Graeme Davis, reading a statement made by the man, said: “When I go into the other personalities I have no knowledge of what happens.”
“I have a separate memory to my normal memory, when they take over, they completely take over.”
“I’ve got blank spots. My normal self wouldn’t have done that.”
The court heard the man was diagnosed with the two disorders around the time of the first offence, due to the “trauma he went through during his childhood.”
After the first allegations were brought to the police, the man said he was “in shock and didn’t know where the complaints came from”.
The court heard there were no victim impact statements, as it was “too traumatic” for the victims to relive the assaults again.
The court heard the accused, originally from Queensland, had witnessed “truly horrendous” abuse at the hands of his father, which has manifested in his diagnosed disorders, causing “disaster” within his own family.
“He hasn’t seen his own children for a long period, and his wife is struggling with raising the children as a single parent,” Mr Davis said.
“His wife has suffered enormously due to these allegations. She has found herself isolated from friends and family.”
Judge Peter Wischusen approved a suppression order on the accused’s name and family address, after a request to “protect his family” from public scrutiny.
The man is set to be sentenced on February 10.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
