Post by malati on Jun 27, 2011 23:50:52 GMT -6
From The Age 28/06/2011
www.theage.com.au/victoria/hare-krishna-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-assaults-20110628-1goo7.html
A devout Hindu and Hare Krishna who indecently assaulted three girls he met through religious groups was like a frightened bird, a court has heard.
Sivakumar Chidambaram pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault on a child under 16 and one count of possessing child pornography.
The Victorian County Court today heard Chidambaram had inappropriately touched the girls — aged five, seven and 10 — he had met through Christian and Hindu religious groups.
He assaulted two sisters in October last year while at lunch with their father at a pastor's home in Melbourne's west, and a third girl on a bus while her mother waited to meet them at a Melbourne shopping centre.
His lawyer, David Drake, told the court Chidambaram, 40, formerly of Sunshine, was a devout Hindu and a Hare Krishna and described him as being "more like a child, like a small frightened bird".
"He spends some three hours a day in prayer which ... involves repeating the mantra 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hare," Mr Drake said.
"He says that thousands of times per day and it's from that he derives inner peace."
Chidambaram, a computer programmer from southern India who came to Australia in 1995 for work, abused the 10-year-old and seven-year-old sisters after meeting them and their father through a small Christian religious group.
He had met the family a couple of times before they were all invited to lunch at the pastor's home in Melbourne's west in October last year.
While the girls' father was inside, they played in the garage, where Chidambaram asked each of them in turn to sit on his lap to play the piano and then inappropriately touched them.
The girls reported it to their mother the next day and police were notified.
Less than a week later, Chidambaram was on a bus when he met a woman he was friends with through a Hindu temple.
The woman was travelling with her two young daughters when Chidambaram persuaded her to go to Highpoint Shopping Centre and then offered to look after the five-year-old girl so that the mother could take her eight-year-old daughter shopping.
After agreeing to meet at 5pm, Chidambaram instead took the five-year-old girl to his house, inappropriately touching her during the trip.
Police found the girl more than three hours later in Chidambaram's bed, while he was taking a shower.
Crown prosecutor Helen Fatouros said 54 pieces of child pornography were later found on Chidambaram's computer, showing there could be "a clear sexual interest in children" and a risk of re-offending.
Justice Damian Murphy ordered Chidambaram, who has been in custody at the Melbourne Remand Centre since October last year, to be assessed for a pre-sentence clinical report and adjourned the plea hearing until July 28.
AAP
Read more: www.theage.com.au/victoria/hare-krishna-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-assaults-20110628-1goo7.html#ixzz1QXyFstMV
www.theage.com.au/victoria/hare-krishna-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-assaults-20110628-1goo7.html
A devout Hindu and Hare Krishna who indecently assaulted three girls he met through religious groups was like a frightened bird, a court has heard.
Sivakumar Chidambaram pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault on a child under 16 and one count of possessing child pornography.
The Victorian County Court today heard Chidambaram had inappropriately touched the girls — aged five, seven and 10 — he had met through Christian and Hindu religious groups.
He assaulted two sisters in October last year while at lunch with their father at a pastor's home in Melbourne's west, and a third girl on a bus while her mother waited to meet them at a Melbourne shopping centre.
His lawyer, David Drake, told the court Chidambaram, 40, formerly of Sunshine, was a devout Hindu and a Hare Krishna and described him as being "more like a child, like a small frightened bird".
"He spends some three hours a day in prayer which ... involves repeating the mantra 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Hare Hare," Mr Drake said.
"He says that thousands of times per day and it's from that he derives inner peace."
Chidambaram, a computer programmer from southern India who came to Australia in 1995 for work, abused the 10-year-old and seven-year-old sisters after meeting them and their father through a small Christian religious group.
He had met the family a couple of times before they were all invited to lunch at the pastor's home in Melbourne's west in October last year.
While the girls' father was inside, they played in the garage, where Chidambaram asked each of them in turn to sit on his lap to play the piano and then inappropriately touched them.
The girls reported it to their mother the next day and police were notified.
Less than a week later, Chidambaram was on a bus when he met a woman he was friends with through a Hindu temple.
The woman was travelling with her two young daughters when Chidambaram persuaded her to go to Highpoint Shopping Centre and then offered to look after the five-year-old girl so that the mother could take her eight-year-old daughter shopping.
After agreeing to meet at 5pm, Chidambaram instead took the five-year-old girl to his house, inappropriately touching her during the trip.
Police found the girl more than three hours later in Chidambaram's bed, while he was taking a shower.
Crown prosecutor Helen Fatouros said 54 pieces of child pornography were later found on Chidambaram's computer, showing there could be "a clear sexual interest in children" and a risk of re-offending.
Justice Damian Murphy ordered Chidambaram, who has been in custody at the Melbourne Remand Centre since October last year, to be assessed for a pre-sentence clinical report and adjourned the plea hearing until July 28.
AAP
Read more: www.theage.com.au/victoria/hare-krishna-pleads-guilty-to-child-sex-assaults-20110628-1goo7.html#ixzz1QXyFstMV