He said he was just doing 'rash checks'. A jury found otherwise
A Perth man who claimed to be conducting "rash checks" on his stepdaughter has been found guilty of sexually abusing her and her younger sister, but has been exonerated on several other charges that claimed he groped them.
The man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, appeared in the Perth District Court on Wednesday for the third day of his trial on 10 different sexual abuse charges, all allegedly committed against his stepdaughters over a five-year period.
The man pleaded not guilty to all charges, with one relating to the full body "rash checks" he conducted on his then 12-year-old stepdaughter that involved her stripping fully naked.
The court heard the man had told her her rash could be "dangerous" and he would need her to undress so he could run his hands over her body.
"He said he had to check my legs and my private area. I had to lay on my back ... and he would check," the girl said.
The court was told the man warned the young girl not to say anything as people "may get the wrong idea" and he didn’t want to get into trouble.
"At the time I believed it was for my health," the girl said.
"It was uncomfortable because he was my mum’s partner but not my dad."
Following closing statements by the man’s defence lawyer and the state prosecution, the jury retired at 11am on Thursday and took just under eight hours to return with a verdict around 7.30pm.
They found the man guilty on four of the 10 counts, relating to aggravated sexual penetration and aggravated indecent dealing. However, he was exonerated on five other charges.
In one instance, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on a charge relating to aggravated indecent dealing, and were discharged.
The charge will again go before the courts in August, with the man due to be sentenced in October.
The verdict comes after the court heard the girls had struggled with coming to terms with their abuse and eventually telling their mother.
When speaking about the alleged abuse, the youngest of the two sisters broke down into tears.
"I just ... really don’t like saying this kind of stuff. I don’t like seeing the bad in people. I want to go back to the way things were," she said.
"Always like saying ‘I love you’, ‘you mean the world to me’, ‘I love you to the moon and back’."
She said she wasn’t sure if that was true anymore.
The eldest sister said the girls didn’t decide to come forward about their abuse until it was clear the man and their mother’s relationship was over.
"I didn’t know how to tell my mum," she said. "I didn’t know how to tell her her partner, someone she loved, would do these things."
The man has been remanded in custody.