A 61-year-old man was handed 78 charges after he was arrested in the Snowy Monaro. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged sexual abuse.
A man was arrested in the Snowy Mountains region before being handed nearly 80 charges alleging he committed almost 20 years of sexual and physical abuse against a woman.
Police originally responded to reports of an alleged domestic violence incident at a home in the Snowy Monaro region in December 2024, a NSW Police spokesperson said.
Officers arrested a 61-year-old man and took him to Cooma Police Station, where he was charged with two counts of assault.
He faced court for these charges and was refused bail.
In the meantime, police began an investigation into allegations of historic domestic and sexual violence offences towards a woman.
Police will allege the offences occurred at a home in the Snowy Monaro and near Gundagai between 2007 and 2024.
On Wednesday (23 April), police arrested the 61-year-old man, who was still in custody, and handed him 78 charges.
These include 64 counts of sexual intercourse without consent, 11 counts of assault and single counts of assault with an act of indecency, sexually touching another person without consent and stalking.
On Thursday (24 April) he faced Cooma Local Court, where he did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.
The man, who isn’t named to avoid identifying the woman, will face Cooma Local Court again in July.
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 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
