Police say 68-year-old man told young girl to ‘get used to it’ while sexually assaulting her

“Get used to it” is what police claim a man said to a young girl while he sexually assaulted her in a Goldfields-Esperance town as they lay in bed together. The 68-year-old man has been charged with six counts of indecently dealing with a child under 13, one count of sexual penetration of that child, and one charge of persistently engaging in sexual conduct with a child under 16. While the man did not enter pleas to any of the charges, which each cover a time period from 2018 to 2023 across two Goldfields-Esperance towns, his lawyer said he would dispute the allegations. A shortened version of the allegations were read to Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Thursday after the lawyer stated he would launch a bail application for his client. Prosecuting Sen. Const. Matthew Fullgrabe said the allegations included the man watching pornography in bed next to the young girl — aged between 7 and 11 for each of the charges — before sexually touching himself and then sexually assaulting the girl while telling her to “get used to it”. Sen. Const. Fullgrabe opposed the bail application, stating the allegations were serious and raised concerns for the mental health of the accused man. He suggested the man had self-harmed after allegedly making admissions to his family about the charges, and stated police had concerns the man was spending most of his time in custody sorting out his finances instead of focusing on a defence for the allegations. However, Sen. Const. Fullgrabe said if bail was to be considered the police would request a series of strict conditions. The man’s lawyer said he had been given no instructions around allegations of mental health and self-harm. He stated his client had no criminal history and therefore there was no evidence he would not comply with conditions imposed by the court. Magistrate William Yoo adjourned the bail application off to a future date to allow police time to make inquiries into the proposed bail address and seek any concerns from the alleged victim. He also instructed the lawyer to seek instructions around the self-harm concerns. Lifeline 13 11 14