THE owner of Cowboy World at Epsom has been charged with the sexual assault of three girls aged under 16.Ricky David McLennan, 48, is alleged to have had a sexual relationship with two of the girls when they were 13 and 15 years old. The offences are alleged to have occurred more than four years ago and continued for several months.He is alleged to have sex­ually assaulted the third victim, who is not yet a teenager, while taking her for a horse ride at his property.McLennan was arrested yesterday morning after officers from the Bendigo sexual offences and child abuse unit raided his home and business on the Midland Highway.He made an application for bail yesterday afternoon. It was granted despite being opposed by police.Leading Senior Constable Sharon Stewart, who has interviewed all three girls, told the court she held grave fears for their safety if McLennan was released back into the community. She said he had threatened the younger girl, telling her that if she told anyone about the assault bad things would come her way.“She lives in constant fear of Mr McLennan,” Leading Senior Constable Stewart said.“She has lived in constant fear of this day when Mr McLennan becomes aware that she has told someone.”The court heard that McLennan had a history of making threats and had in the past been convicted of making a threat to inflict serious injury.He also has a prior con­viction for sexual assault, for which he received a term of imprisonment.McLennan is alleged to have had sex with one of the girls more than 50 times.Another victim has made a statement to police saying McLennan had sex with her almost every day.Police argued that McLennan would contact the victims and be an unacceptable risk of re-offending if released on bail.However, the defence argued that McLennan had no history of breaching his bail and had never been accused of contacting prosecution witnesses in the past.The defence also questioned the reliability of one of the victims, who the court heard had initially denied a sexual relationship with McLennan when first approached by the police some years ago.McLennan is facing three counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16. Further charges are expected to be laid in the coming months.