Geelong mum Casey Leggett accused of recruiting girls into sex and crime using drugs
A MUM of two accused of drugging troubled girls and luring them from a Geelong shopping mall into a sex and crime racket has denied her involvement, saying “these girls have got it in for me”.
Law & Order
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A GEELONG mum drugged troubled girls and lured them from the Malop St mall into a sex and crime racket, a court has heard.
Police say girls aged between 11 and 17 have made allegations against 36-year-old Casey Leggett, and say more are poised to come forward after she was refused bail yesterday.
But Ms Leggett told Geelong Magistrates’ Court: “I did not do any of this. These girls have got it in for me”.
The most alarming allegation came from a girl who was 14 in September last year, when she says Ms Leggett and a male co-accused drove her from central Geelong to a paddock in Highton.
Sergeant Dan Willsmore said the girl claimed Ms Leggett injected her with ice before the trip, and then with “ice and juice (GHB)” in the paddock.
In the car on the way back to Geelong, it’s alleged Ms Leggett said to the man “you should come back later for a root”.
“I knew what she was up to straight away. She was trying to sell me for drugs,” the girl told police.
Ms Leggett is charged with three counts of both supplying methamphetamine to a child and introducing the drug into the body of that person.
Two of both charges arise from the alleged incident in September 2017, and one of each from an alleged incident on December 29.
She is also accused of supplying GHB to a child, intentionally inviting a child to take part in a sexual performance, and thefts and deceptions relating to a bank card theft last month. Representing herself, she told court she needed bail because she shared care of her children. “I’m a mum of two. I do not inject drugs in children or sell them,” she said.
Sgt Willsmore said the unemployed woman used ice, heroin and cocaine regularly, cannabis prolifically, and was hooked on pokie machines.
He said she was a daily visitor to the mall, where she was known to associate with homeless men and troubled teens.
The sergeant said police from the sex offender, child abuse unit and youth tasking unit had been investigating the mall, with Ms Leggett becoming “a main target”, and three men charged.
He told the court 15 intelligence reports were lodged about her selling drugs to kids and “recruiting youth for criminal activity and sexual exploitation”, and flagged the possibility of more allegations coming to light.
Ms Leggett denied she was homeless but magistrate Bob Kumar said she’d fallen short of proving there were exceptional circumstances to justify her bail application.
Ms Leggett will return to court October 15.