A paedophile sporting coach has admitted spending more than a decade sexually abusing girls he was meant to be caring for as he taught them rock climbing and gymnastics.
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Holt man Stephen Leonard Mitchell, 56, pleaded guilty to seven charges in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon.
They included the territory's first ever persistent sexual abuse of a child charge, which recently came into effect following the advocacy of 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame.
Mitchell also admitted two charges of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, three counts of committing an act of indecency with a child, and an allegation of providing misleading information to a Commonwealth entity.
The child sex offences were committed against six different girls, some of whom became elite rock climbers while Mitchell was abusing them.
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The Holt man preyed on the victims between 1994 and 2008, committing sexual offences against them in the ACT, NSW and overseas.
While Mitchell has admitted his guilt, a disputed facts hearing may be required to determine the precise details of his child sex crimes before he is sentenced.
The misleading information offence, meanwhile, involved Mitchell fraudulently obtaining federal government security clearances between 2003 and 2019.
It is understood the security clearances were for the Police Community Youth Club program run by the Australian Federal Police, the federal Attorney-General's Department, and the Department of Home Affairs.
The latter required a top-secret security clearance.
Following Mitchell's admissions of guilt, magistrate Louise Taylor committed him to the ACT Supreme Court for sentence on the child sex charges.
The Holt man is due to face an administrative hearing in the superior court on December 8.
The 56-year-old will be sentenced for the misleading information offence by the Magistrates Court, which will also be tasked with determining a further act of indecency charge that has been listed for a contested hearing in August 2023.
Mitchell pleaded not guilty to that charge, which relates to an adult alleged victim, through defence lawyer Peter Woodhouse on Tuesday.
He remains on conditional liberty, having been granted bail after Operation Pyrite detectives, from ACT Policing, arrested him in February.
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