A sporting coach has pleaded not guilty to grooming and other sexual offences allegedly committed against a child protégé whom he promised he could help play for Australia one day.
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The prosecution's allegations tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court in August state that in 2019, the defendant, 70, began a one-on-one training program with a girl at her home.
The program had "touch experiments" because the defendant concluded that she was a kinaesthetic learner and would learn best through touch.
During the next 12 months, the alleged grooming involved the defendant touching the girl, repeatedly kissing her cheeks, hugging her, and asking her about masturbation fantasies.
"The defendant told [the complainant] he believed she had nowhere to sexually experiment and that she could always come to him," the prosecution case alleges.
The complainant repeatedly told him she did not want to have sex with him, but he insisted on repeatedly returning to the topic, saying things like "you would be so good at sex".
The defendant also allegedly gave her a vibrator to help her masturbate and asked if she wanted to perform a sex act on one of her friends.
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In late 2020, the defendant wanted the complainant to see a physiotherapist; however, he first ran his own tests, which allegedly involved him removing her bra and taking photos.
A few months later, a similar incident allegedly occurred, with one of the complainant's friends witnessing it.
After the complainant's parents confronted the defendant, his "behaviour did not change", the prosecution case alleges.
When he was no longer allowed to coach the complainant, contact between the pair continued via her friend's mobile phone before he was cut off.
The complainant went to police in January this year and, following a search of a Canberra house in August, an arrest was made.
The defendant, who is not named because of a non-publication order, faced the Magistrates Court on Monday when he pleaded not guilty to all charges.
These were grooming a young person, two counts of act of indecency on a young person under special care, and one of intimate observations or capturing visual data.
The court granted the defendant variations to his bail, which included the addition of allowing him to visit his wife's parents in southern Canberra.
The non-publication order of his name was made based on the potential effects on his daughter's mental health.
The case is scheduled for return on November 21.
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![A Canberra sporting coach accused of child sex offences has pleaded not guilty to all charges. File picture A Canberra sporting coach accused of child sex offences has pleaded not guilty to all charges. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/130009714/3e26c32b-f84a-44e8-9c4d-7ed48bcf4a5f.jpg/r0_0_4256_2393_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)