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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Blake Foden

Child wet themselves in fear of 'angry' alleged criminal: police

Kwadjo Otchere, who is yet to enter pleas to three charges. Picture: Facebook

A child was so scared of an alleged sex offender they had urinated on themselves in fear by the time police arrived to arrest the man, a court has been told.

Kwadjo Otchere, 33, was granted bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday despite a magistrate expressing concern about the circumstances of his alleged crimes.

In court documents, police allege Mr Otchere was visiting people he knew at a home in suburban Tuggeranong on Sunday when he approached a woman who lived in the house.

Officers claim he "placed his hands on her, squeezed the sides of her stomach and rubbed her buttocks".

"[The alleged victim] immediately felt uncomfortable and disgusted, and told the defendant to stop," police allege.

The following night, officers say Mr Otchere was at the home again.

They say he tried to barge in to the alleged victim's bedroom while she was getting changed, and she had to quickly shut the door to deny him entry.

Police were called a few hours later, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, when a child who was in the house phoned and said Mr Otchere was "angry" and banging on a door.

Officers arrived about 20 minutes after the call, and in the intervening period Mr Otchere allegedly again put his hands on the same woman's stomach and buttocks.

When police arrived, they say they immediately heard children in the house yelling for help through an open window.

Officers entered the premises and arrested Mr Otchere, who they found in a rear bedroom.

"Police observed one of the children had urinated on themselves in fear of the defendant," court documents say.

Mr Otchere fronted court on Tuesday morning, charged with three offences including two counts of committing an act of indecency without consent.

He did not enter pleas, and appeared visibly upset as he was beamed into the courtroom from a remote room.

Prosecutor Juanita Zankin did not oppose bail, so long as appropriate conditions were imposed.

These included a ban on Mr Otchere entering the suburb where the alleged incidents were said to have occurred, and a prohibition on him contacting a list of people that included the alleged victim.

Magistrate Glenn Theakston said: "The circumstances are concerning but I think I will, on balance, allow bail."

Mr Otchere is due back in court on March 9.

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