Man faces court on sex attack

A MAN stands accused of sexually abusing three sisters over a five- year period, allegedly raping the youngest two girls multiple times.

The trial of Zaine Steven McNeish began in Townsville District Court yesterday. McNeish pleaded not guilty to 30 sexual offences including nine counts of rape.

Crown Prosecutor Dominique Orr said the defendant met the young girls in June 2009 and most of the offending is alleged to have occurred between then and December 2014 in Ayr.

Ms Orr said the 30- year- old defendant had assimilated himself into the alleged victims’ family.

She said McNeish had sleepovers at the girls’ house and had regular and frequent contact with them.

Ms Orr said the eldest sibling had been touched on the vagina over her clothes while the two younger children were the main focus of his attention. She said one of the girls claimed “he kept making us go over to his place and do that yucky stuff”.

McNeish is also charged with offending against the younger siblings in front of each other and forcing them to commit indecent acts on each other.

Ms Orr said the girls kept their abuse secret for years with the first in- dication coming in 2012 when the youngest sibling told teachers at her school she had been touched inappropriately.

The Crown Prosecutor said police were called to the school and the three girls were interviewed but they did not mention the alleged sexual abuse at that time. The court heard at least two of the girls had told their mother about the offending, one even writing her a letter.

“The youngest of the girls will tell you once she told her mother the defendant was touching her and her mother said she would talk to him about it later,” Ms Orr said.

“( She) will also tell you that the defendant threatened her that if she told someone or talked to the police that she would be taken away.”

Ms Orr said McNeish came to the attention of police for allegedly engaging with an undercover officer over email, asking to swap photographs of young children in September 2014.

She said a raid of his house led to police taking his mobile phone which had a “provocative” image of one of the girls on it. The children were forcibly removed from their house and taken into foster care where they eventually told their story of abuse to their carer and police.

The prosecution is expected to call witnesses today.