AN ELDERLY man who is facing charges of indecently dealing with his own grandchild has been granted permission to take a pre-booked holiday to Bangkok.
The 74-year-old man has not yet entered a plea to any of the charges.
Magistrate Anne Longden approved a variation to the man’s bail conditions in Mandurah Magistrates Court on Tuesday despite police opposing the travel opportunity.
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READ NOW“He would be travelling to a country that’s home to child exploitation,” the police prosecutor argued.
“He’s the grandfather of the child involved.”
The man has been charged with four counts of indecently dealing with a child.
His original bail conditions prevented him from travelling outside of WA.
The police prosecutor said the man also had plans to travel to other Asian destinations later in the year.
He opposed the man’s request because the serious nature of the charges meant if the man was convicted, his punishment would probably involve a prison term.
The man’s defence lawyer Marc Saupin said his client had been granted and complied with a bail amendment to travel in the past, but accepted the current charges were serious.
Ms Longden approved the variation – which only covers the Thailand trip – on the basis the man would be travelling with his wife and that it was not the first time the man had been granted a bail variation to travel.
He is next due to appear in Mandurah Magistrates Court on April 24.
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