An Australian man who abducted and molested a 12-year-old girl on her way to school has pleaded guilty to 10 charges.
The 33-year-old, dressed in a camouflage or ghillie suit, texted two of his workmates to tell them he would be late, before hiding in bushes he knew were frequented by schoolchildren.
He snatched the girl on her way to school on Australia's Central Coast, dragged her into the dense bushes and sexually assaulted her for up to an hour, the court heard.
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He used cable ties and duct tape to tie the child's hands and feet and cover her mouth. He then tied her to a tree.
He was armed with a knife, and allegedly told her: "Don't scream or I will hurt you."
Once he had released the girl, who ran crying to school, the man continued on to work.
Arriving at 9:30am covered in grass and dirt, he claimed he had been in a road rage incident and chased another driver into bushland, then fallen down an embankment, reports the Daily Telegraph.
The man appeared in Gosford District Court on Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to seven charges relating to the rape of the 12-year-old.
He also pleaded guilty to three charges of grooming and sexual abuse of another girl aged 11, between August 2016 and April 2017.
He has been remanded for sentencing in June.
Newshub.
