A coach has methodically abused his position and a young girl's aspirations of playing sport professionally to indecently assault her numerous times over more than a year.
The 71-year-old predator, who cannot be named for legal reasons, eventually attempted to convince the child to begin a sexual relationship with him.
On Wednesday, the offender pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an act of indecency on a child under special care, and one count each of committing an act of indecency on a child and the intimate capturing of visual data.
A charge of grooming was withdrawn by the prosecution.
Agreed facts tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court detail how the married man abused his position and the trust he had gained to be alone with the girl and commit his crimes.
The victim dreamt of playing cricket for Australia and regularly felt she could not reject the man's offending behaviour out of fear he would stop coaching her.
The offending began in recent years when the girl was aged under 16 and her parents hired the man to be a specialist athletics coach.
After an initially agreed upon 12-week block of training, the offender was hired, at his request, to be the girl's "personal coach".
His involvement in multiple aspects of her life began to increase and he would organise for the pair to spend hours together on a daily basis, eventually without the girl's parents knowing.
The offender regularly touched the victim and initiated sexualised conversations under the guise of different forms of training, telling the victim she was a "kinaesthetic learner".
He found ways to hug the girl, hold her hand on walks and kiss her on the cheek, before he began conducting physio "assessments" he said were better done without her mum present.
During one purported physio session, the man took and kept images of the victim in a swimming top.
The offending behaviour escalated to the man asking the victim to fill out a "sexual arousal questionnaire", repeatedly suggesting they have sex, and sharing details of his sexual history.
"The offender extensively detailed the sexual conversations he would have with the complainant in a journal," agreed facts state.
He later threatened to quit being her coach and move overseas if "there was nothing between them".
When the victim's parents eventually ended the offender's coaching position and the girl told him to stop contacting her, he made attempts to reach her through her friend.
Police arrested the offender last year, when they found his journal and evidence of a commissioned artwork of himself and the victim.
The man's iPad password was the victim's name and birthday.
As part of his bail conditions, the man is not allowed to be in the presence of any person under the age of 18 unless in the company of another adult.
Prosecutor David Swan told the court he would be making an application to lift the suppression order on the offender's name when the case returned.
The order was previously made after a defence application, not as a means to protect the victim's identity.
The case is set to return in January for a sentencing hearing.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Bravehearts 1800 272 831; Blue Knot Foundation 1300 657 380.
