Swimming teacher, 20, raped seven-year-old girl eight times in a span of three weeks
An Australian swimming teacher who was previously arrested and charged for allegedly sexually abusing two young girls under his care is now accused of sexually assaulting as many as eight different girls.
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail, 20-year-old Kyle James Henk Daniels has now been accused of committing 31 sexual offenses while teaching swimming lessons at the Mosman Swim Center in Sydney's Lower North Shore, where he had been a casual instructor for the past two years.
Daniels was first arrested on March 12 after the parents of two sisters, aged six and eight, complained to the police that the 20-year-old had sexually touched the former during a lesson on February 2 and then had sexual intercourse with the latter on Valentine's Day.
At the time, he was charged with two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child under the age of 10 and having sexual intercourse with a child under 10, but those charges have since been updated after it emerged there were several other victims as well.
The court documents state Daniels began committing the sexual offenses on his swim students in January 2018. It alleged his first victim was a 10-year-old girl, who he went on to rape three more times over the course of the year, and that he similarly attacked two other girls, one of whom was just five. He also reportedly raped one victim, seven-years-old, eight times in the space of three weeks in October and November 2018, and two other girls nine times between October 2018 and February 2019.
The documents allege that, in total, the 20-year-old committed a total of 14 acts of indecent assault in 2018, and that he sexually touched his victims on eight other occasions while teaching them to swim. He is believed to have continued committing sexual offenses up until just 10 days before his arrest.
Prosecutors subsequently added a further 28 charges and took out a total of seven Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO) on behalf of the victims banning Daniels from having any contact with them. Ezyswim, who operate the swimming program at Mosman, have promised stricter safety regulations moving forward, writing in their statement, "In light of these horrific claims involving a former instructor at the center, we are introducing additional safety measures that go over and beyond industry practice, so parents can be assured children are as safe as possible."
"As part of this, our teachers are participating in additional Child Protection & Safety education through Swimming Australia," it continued. "We are also ensuring there is an additional pool deck supervisor on duty."
Daniels' lawyer has denied the charges on his behalf, and a surety of $100,000 was posted to secure his freedom, with bail conditions mandating that he report daily to the police, not go to pools, and surrender his passport. The 20-year-old is scheduled to make his next appearance at the Manly Local Court on May 8, 2019.