Mark Pershouse: Crib Point father accused of child sex abuse
A Mornington Peninsula man accused of child sex offences against four girls said he had “blank spots” in his memory caused by his multiple personalities, a court heard.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A Mornington Peninsula man accused of sexually abusing four young girls has been bailed.
Mark Pershouse, 42, a father of two, fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday facing charges including sexual and indecent assault of child under the age of 16.
The allegations relate to four girls across a number of occasions between August 2014 and January this year.
Pershouse, of Crib Point, is alleged to have touched the girls outside of their clothing or underwear.
In a recorded phone call Pershouse allegedly claimed that he had “two to three” personalities and had “no control” over them, the court was told.
On another occasion, Pershouse allegedly said he would “never want to hurt kids”.
“When I go into the other personalities I don’t know what happens … they’ve got their own separate memories,” he allegedly said.
“It constantly worries me, constantly eats away at me … they take over completely, it’s like I’ve got blank spots (in my memory) and I can’t fix them.”
The court was told Pershouse was no longer living at his Crib Point address with his wife and two children.
The prosecution said police had a “very high degree of concern” that Pershouse would be unable to control himself outside of custody.
“(He claims) he has no control of his behaviour due to other personalities taking over,” the prosecution said.
Pershouse had no prior convictions, a stable bail address in Melbourne’s west, support from his wife and was regularly attending psychologist sessions in custody, Magistrate Donna Bakos heard.
Ms Bakos said there was a chance of “significant delay” which could stretch court proceedings out to next year.
“The allegations are extremely serious, there’s not one incident, there are multiple incidents and they involve very young children,” she said.
“I can’t say for certain the risk is unacceptable.”
Pershouse was bailed to an address in Melbourne’s west and was barred from being in the company of a person under the age of 18 unless the youth’s guardian is present.
He must continue engaging with his psychologist and not leave home between 9pm-6am.
