NSW Police have charged a 61-year-old man with 70 offences following an investigation into the alleged sexual and physical abuse of a woman and six children on the state’s Mid North Coast.
In June this year, detectives from the Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad commenced an investigation following reports a 45-year-old woman and six children had been sexually or physically abused by a man known to them between 2015 and 2018.
Following extensive inquiries, investigators arrested a man at his home near Taree. He was taken to Taree Police Station and charged with 70 offences including:
- groom child under 14 years for unlawful sexual activity,
- stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm,
- assault occasioning actual bodily harm,
- aggravated sex assault victim under authority of offender,
- aggravated indecency victim under 16 and under authority offender,
- refuse to provide necessities of life endanger life,
- sexual intercourse without consent,
- groom child under 14 years for unlawful sexual activity,
- drive furiously in motor vehicle do/cause bodily harm,
- torture, beat and seriously injure animal,
- common assault,
- affray.
He was formally refused bail and will reappear in court today.
A search warrant was executed at the man’s home, where detectives were assisted throughout the operation by Northern Region Operations Support Group (OSG), officers from Manning Great Lakes and Mid North Coast Police Districts and police divers from the Marine Area Command.
Electronic storage devices were seized from the home, while three firearms were recovered during a search of a dam. All items seized will undergo further examination.
