A Chisholm man has been granted bail after being accused of raping a young girl he used to babysit, as well as sexually abusing and supplying cannabis to her cousin.
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Kevin Malone, 45, threatened to "knock out" this reporter moments after walking free from the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday afternoon.
The landscaper had cried a few minutes earlier as he was formally charged with three counts of having sexual intercourse with a child between 2011 and 2013.
Mr Malone, who did not enter any pleas, was also accused of committing an act of indecency without consent and supplying cannabis to a child.
Those charges, which related to the cousin, were over incidents said to have occurred between 2014 and 2017.
In documents tendered to the court, police said the first girl would periodically stay overnight at Mr Malone's home until her mother grew suspicious that she had been drugged.
Years later, on Mother's Day in 2016, the girl told her mother that Mr Malone had molested her.
She reported this to police in September 2020, telling detectives Mr Malone had sexually penetrated her twice while she played games on an Xbox.
The girl alleged that one time when she told him to stop, he replied: "It isn't wrong for me to touch you. It's OK."
"He used to say things like, 'What happens here stays here'," she said.
She also told police Mr Malone had raped her after giving her a glass of lemonade that had her "falling in and out of consciousness" within 20 minutes of drinking it.
The girl attended the Winchester Police Centre with her cousin, who also knew Mr Malone and alleged that he had given her cannabis and a drink at his home one evening.
The second alleged victim told detectives she had "passed out" on a bed in the living room, and that she had woken up to find Mr Malone touching her inappropriately.
She said Mr Malone had later visited her house and "tried to apologise".
Following investigations, police raided the 45-year-old's house on Wednesday.
During the search, officers say Mr Malone "adamantly denied" having sex with the first alleged victim or touching her "in any sort of sexual way".
"The defendant stated he believes this current investigation is an attempt for [the girl's mother] to get a 'compo' payout, but could not articulate how this payout would occur or who would be paying for it," the police documents say.
When Mr Malone appeared in court on Thursday, Legal Aid lawyer Kara McKee applied for him to be released on bail.
She said he had not had any contact with the alleged victims for at least four years and that was unlikely to change, with Mr Malone willing to abide by non-contact conditions.
Prosecutor Juanita Zankin accepted that there had been a lack of recent contact, but pointed out that Mr Malone now knew the alleged victims had spoken out against him.
Ms Zankin opposed bail, saying the alleged victims were "fearful" that he would harass and intimidate them if released.
She also described the case against Mr Malone as strong, and said he would likely be locked up if found guilty.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker granted bail, saying the allegations were "very serious" but fears Mr Malone would endanger the alleged victims were "speculative".
Mr Malone struggled to walk through the courthouse to the bail office, stopping in a corridor to sit down and clutch at his heart.
But he was full of energy as he left via the front door and roared at two reporters.
"What are you f---ers doing?" he bellowed when he spotted news cameras.
As he hid under a hood and behind a bag, he then yelled at this journalist: "Go away, c---, or I'll get charged with knocking you the f--- out, you c---".
Mr Malone is due to enter pleas on May 20.
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