A Bangladeshi international student charged with eight sex offences after allegedly preying on a teenage girl at Westfield Bondi Junction has been granted bail so he can work to support his wife.
Mohamed Abdul Shadak Papon, 27, spent three months in custody after his December 2024 arrest before NSW Supreme Court Justice Deborah Sweeney agreed to release him last month with daily reporting and home detention conditions.
Papon’s wife said in an affidavit presented to the court that she had sold wedding jewellery to pay for food and rent, since her student visa limited the number of hours she could work, and said Papon had been working four casual jobs to support them before being jailed, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The court heard Papon, who is yet to enter pleas and will face court again on June 17, had been offered a job working from home as a bookkeeper by one of his employers.
Documents tendered to the court allege Papon approached the girl, 15, while on his break from a shift at Coles, told her she was pretty, bought her a drink from McDonald’s and exchanged details with her before before trying to lure her into a bathroom.
He allegedly told her: “I bought you a drink … can I have you for five minutes … we could do some fun.”
The girl did not respond and kept walking, and Papon then allegedly groped her buttocks before placing his hand inside her pants and trying to penetrate her, which was allegedly caught on CCTV, the court heard.
The supermarket worker also kissed the girl on the head, attempted to grope her left breast, and put his hand around her waist as they walked through the shopping centre, police allege.
Police allege Papon told her “can you feel my heartbeat? I just want to fuck you”, begged her to let him “make out” with her, and said they would make a good couple, but the girl managed to get away.
He allegedly texted her afterwards asking her to be his girlfriend.
Papon was arrested at a bus stop in his Coles uniform two days later and charged with sexual touching, aggravated sexual assault, and grooming of a child.
Header image: Westfield Bondi Junction, Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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