Stepfather allegedly raped child as blackmail after another man's abuse

The Bendigo Magistrates' Court heard from a police informant that the victim had also allegedly been groomed and sexually abused by another man.

When her stepfather discovered this information - which the child did not want her mother to know - the stepfather allegedly raped her three times in an act of blackmail.

The police informant said the stepfather had admitted in interviews that he had pressured the child into being abused with the implicit threat that he would have otherwise told the child's mother about the other abuser.

The stepfather cannot be named to protect the victim.

Both alleged abusers are before the court on multiple sexual abuse charges relating to alleged crimes against the child.

During a bail application, the police informant said there may have been a weapon present during one of the stepfather's alleged rapes and a knife had been seized, but confirmed that he does not face a knife-related charge.

He is facing charges including multiple counts of sexual penetration of a stepchild.

The child has now provided three video statements detailing the alleged attacks that left her "frozen".

The court heard the child and her mother were "terrified" of the accused being released on bail, and that she had told the police informant she would not leave the house if her stepfather was released.

The informant said the accused's release would cause the family and the victim "extreme distress" during an "already very difficult period".

The court heard text messages between the other alleged abuser and the child referred to the stepfather as "the rapist" and expressed the girl's dislike for the man.

The informant said the child had made additional disclosures after her first interview with police.

The police informant told the court even the strictest of bail conditions "wouldn't alleviate the mental health concerns for the victim".

An Office of Public Prosecutions representative told the court the accused man's alleged actions had been "predatory" and "opportunistic".

They said he had been "trusted to act as a father figure" and had been "passive" and "done nothing" when he learned the child was being abused by another man who was also described as "preying on the complainant".

The stepfather's alleged actions were described as "a breach of trust of a very high nature".

The bail application has been adjourned until April.

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