North Tamworth man pleads guilty to intentionally sexually touching teen girl after being charged by Child Abuse Unit

The man is aged in his early 20s but cannot be identified to protect the identity of his victim who is aged just 14.

The offender was arrested by the Child Abuse Unit from Tamworth and fronted Tamworth Local Court where he admitted to three charges of intentionally sexually touching a child under 16 years.

According to court documents, the offences took place in the victim's home on the edge of Tamworth, between August and September, last year, when the offender would regularly visit the home the victim shared with her family.

The offender was flanked by family members in court when solicitor for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Max Dixon filed a detention application to have him taken into custody after his guilty pleas.

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Solicitor James Janke asked for sentencing to be adjourned because "I have to get two reports".

"A sentencing assessment report is ordered given the nature of the charges," Magistrate Brett Thomas told the court.

Mr Dixon said a sentence of imprisonment was "realistically" the only outcome because an intensive corrections order (ICO) - or jail term in the community - was not available for the offence.

"There are three offences, and three occasions where offending occurred," he told the court.

He said it was "not brief offending", and involved "touching of the buttocks", "touching the breasts", and trying to move the victim's pants.

"The behaviour is ongoing, it's not incidental," Mr Dixon said.

Mr Janke tendered written submissions to keep his client out of custody, but told the court, the "skin to skin" offence was the most serious but one of the offences lasted about a "minute in time".

He argued his client had strong family support; he was young; had no criminal record; had full time employment; and made admissions after his arrest.

Mr Thomas said it was difficult because he "won't be the sentencing magistrate".

But he said there were early guilty pleas; three distinct occasions of offending; and "I note the nature of the offending, and the unavailability of an ICO".

He said the man was relatively young with no prior record, but "not to diminish the serious offending" or the conduct, he said jail wasn't inevitable.

He dismissed the Crown's application and the "current bail is to continue in the current terms".

According to agreed facts, the offender went to the victim's home to watch movies.

The offender "sat next to the victim and began touching her buttocks over her clothing. The offender tried to put his hands under her clothing but the victim would not let him". This incident lasted for about one minute.

On the second occasion, about a week later, the offender then put his hand under her clothing and her bra.

"The victim said 'don't' to the offender," facts state.

On the third occasion, after the offender tried to pull the victim's pants down, the victim got up, "and said 'don't' to the offender, and 'I think it is time for you to leave', and the offender left".

When the victim blocked the accused on social media, the victim's mother became aware of what had happened when she confided that "he tried to keep touching me".

Police were alerted and the Child Abuse Squad was called in before the man was arrested in November last year.

The offender will be sentenced in June.

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