Travis Ainsley Muller, 41, hid his face under an umbrella when leaving the ACT Courts on Tuesday (26 May). Photo: Albert McKnight.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged child abuse.
The babysitter accused of abusing two children allegedly told the pair not to report what happened to their parents.
Travis Ainsley Muller was arrested earlier this year and accused of grooming and sexually assaulting two children sometime between the late 2010s and early 2020s.
The now-41-year-old from Mawson was granted bail to live at his parents’ rural property in the Bega Valley before Region obtained court documents detailing the allegations against him.
It is alleged that he knew the two children’s parents and would occasionally babysit the siblings for short periods when they were under the age of five, while he was in his mid-30s.
The first child alleged there were about five occasions when they had been left alone with Mr Muller and he told the boy something like, “Let’s go to a private place”. The child alleged Mr Muller then took him into another room and sexually and indecently assaulted him.
The first child believed Mr Muller allegedly abused his brother in a similar way.
The court documents say he is also alleged to have told the pair, “Not to tell anything to their parents”.
In January 2026, the first child approached their mother and apparently said, “Mum, I have something I want to tell you”.
“Do you know Travis?” he said, then told his mother about the alleged abuse.
The mother said her second child also alleged Mr Muller sexually abused him, too. She went to police the following day, who later interviewed both of her children.
When police interviewed the second child, he wrote down, “Its a bit hard to talk about [sic]”.
“The name who did it is Travis and he said don’t tell your parent [sic],” he wrote.
The second child also wrote that Mr Muller made him feel “grumpy” and “he was only nice to my parents but not me!”
Mr Muller was arrested on 12 March. He was granted bail with a long list of conditions.
These include living at his parents’ home on an acreage outside the town of Bega, leaving only if he is in the company of one of them, and not using the internet.
He faced the ACT Magistrates Court again on Tuesday (26 May) as his lawyer, Tom Tiffen from Hugo Law Group, applied to vary his bail conditions to allow him to use electronic devices and the internet.
Mr Tiffen said his client needed internet access to find work, and he planned to find a job that would allow him to work from his parents’ home.
The prosecutor said the children’s mother was concerned about the bail variations because she was worried that Mr Muller would try to contact her children. But the prosecutor also said his office did not oppose the variations.
Magistrate James Stewart said he was satisfied that the amendments would not reduce the children’s safety and granted the bail variations. The matter was adjourned to 30 June.
Mr Muller has entered not guilty pleas to two counts each of sexual intercourse with a young person, grooming and committing an act of indecency on a child.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on (02) 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on (02) 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
If you have been affected by sexual violence, or someone you know has, you can report it to law enforcement by attending a police station or phoning 131 444.
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on Region Canberra.
