A man accused of grabbing a girl's buttocks said voices in his head told him "to attack and steal from small children and to follow people around", a court document states.
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Kwabena Jesse Amoo-Appau, 31, is charged with committing an indecent act without consent and was granted bail by the ACT Magistrate Court on Thursday.
Mr Amoo-Appau, of Moncrieff, has not pleaded to the charge and was released on conditional liberty without opposition by the prosecution.
A police document tendered to the court states that on November 11, 2021, Mr Amoo-Appau followed the complainant at a Canberra shopping village onto a street where he allegedly grabbed her on the buttocks.
When the complainant was picked up by her mum, they drove around to find the defendant.
The mother said words to the effect of: "Excuse me, mate, did you just touch my daughter?"
"That's not okay, she's just a little girl," the mother said.
Mr Amoo-Appau replied with "yes" to the mother's question and "yes, sorry" to her follow-up statement.
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The complainant's mother reported the matter to police before the defendant's own mother reported him missing.
A short time later, Mr Amoo-Appau appeared at a police station and said he was hearing voices in his head telling him to do things.
The police document states that these included "telling him to go to the brothel, to attack and steal from small children and to follow people around".
The defendant said he had been walking around and wanted help from the police before he was taken to Canberra Hospital.
Police then spoke with the complainant and viewed CCTV footage of the incident.
In court on Thursday, magistrate Glenn Theakston told the defendant that "it's simply not appropriate to go around touching people, particularly young girls".
Mr Theakston told him he may be refused bail in the future if he is accused of committing the offence again.
The court heard Mr Amoo-Appau was released from a mental health facility after undergoing an assessment on Wednesday to determine if he needed immediate treatment or care because of mental impairment.
A discharge document state that he is on a treatment order by ACT Mental Health.
His bail conditions include that he engages with treatment; not assault, harass, threaten or intimidate the complainant; and, not be within 100m of the complainant.
Asked by the magistrate if he understood the conditions, Mr Amoo-Appau said "yeah, I understand".
The case is scheduled for return on January 27.
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