Alleged rapist accused of using vape to lure schoolgirl

POLICE have accused a man of raping a Toowoomba schoolgirl after luring her off the internet with the promise of a vape.

The man was on bail at the time for allegedly raping a different girl.

The young man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Thursday, February 16, where he applied for bail on his fresh charges of rape, supplying a smoke to a child, and exposing himself/indecent treatment of a child under 16.

Police prosecutor Bettina Trenear alleged the man did not know the child, however after speaking for a month through Snapchat, the man organised to meet the girl and give her a vape.

The court was told the man allegedly picked the girl up in a car and drove around before parking and advancing on the girl, who protested and told him her age.

She was in her school uniform at the time.

The court was told despite the girl protesting, pulling away, pushing the man, and saying no, the man allegedly digitally raped her and exposing himself.

The girl was dropped off at a friend’s house and was driven to hospital by the friend’s mother.

Duty lawyer Jag MacDonald said the man in his 20s, intended to contest the charges despite police levelling a mountain of evidence against him.

Ms Trenear said the alleged victim took a photo of the man in the car, and police had CCTV footage of the car.

Mr MacDonald said the man told him that his brother also had access to the car and looked like him.

Magistrate Kay Philipson said given the police had a strong case against the man, the seriousness of the allegations, and the fact he was on bail for a very similar offence, that he was too much of a risk to the community.

Ms Philipson denied the bail application and ordered a brief of evidence to be completed before March 23, and set the case down for a committal mention on April 13.

The man remains in