Brett Callaghan allegedly plied 11-year-old with drugs during abduction

Brett Callaghan, above, was arrested and charged with allegedly detaining and sexually assaulting the 12-year-old 

A father who allegedly abducted a girl, 12, from a skate park and raped her has been accused of plying her with drugs – as a chilling timeline of the apparent ordeal emerges. 

Brett John Callaghan, 37, allegedly approached the girl at Thornleigh Skate Park in north-west Sydney on Tuesday afternoon and luring her to his granny flat in Dural. 

Court documents claim Callaghan abducted the girl from the skatepark about 3.30pm. He was with his own child at the same time, police claimed. 

Callaghan then allegedly assaulted the girl during the drive to his house, and again when they returned to the granny flat. 

Hornsby Local Court magistrate Bruce Williams was told on Wednesday that Callaghan had allegedly ‘administered’ drugs to the girl after collecting her from the park. As of Thursday afternoon, Callaghan had not been charged with drug-related offences.

In court documents seen by Daily Mail Australia, police allege Callaghan ‘kissed and rubbed’ the child’s legs between 4.30pm and 1am at Dural. He allegedly raped her over the course of the same period.

The child was reported missing at 5.30pm after she failed to meet her parents at Hornsby Westfield as they had planned. Detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad eventually arrested Callaghan just after 1.15am on Wednesday morning. 

The 12-year-old girl was allegedly taken to Callaghan's granny flat in Dural (pictured) on the back of his parent's property

The 12-year-old girl was allegedly taken to Callaghan’s granny flat in Dural (pictured) on the back of his parent’s property

The 12-year-old girl had been at Thornleigh's skate park (pictured) when she went missing on Tuesday afternoon

The 12-year-old girl had been at Thornleigh’s skate park (pictured) when she went missing on Tuesday afternoon

Pictured: The offender being taken into custody

Pictured: Him leaving the police van

Police released images of the offender being taken into custody on Wednesday

Police allege the schoolgirl had left friends at the Westfield earlier in the afternoon to meet Callaghan and his child at the park, meaning she was missing for about 11 hours in total. 

‘We will allege that once they left in the car and went to a home at Dural, she was sexually assaulted,’ child abuse and sex crimes squad detective superintendent John Kerlatec said on Wednesday. 

A court hearing shortly following his arrest yesterday heard evidence from a sex crimes squad detective who said Callaghan was ‘quite obviously under the influence of illicit drugs’.

Prosecutors were seeking permission from the court to take his DNA but the officer said ‘he’s shown he’s clearly not capable of giving consent in his state,’ according to the Hornsby Advocate.  

Callaghan was then charged with three separate offences, including aggravated sexual intercourse, and sexually touching another person without consent, as well as another count relating to the alleged abduction.

A police prosecutor told Parramatta Local Court on Thursday that police had obtained DNA samples from Callaghan under an interim order. Prosecutors are still seeking the final approval of the court so those samples could possibly be used as evidence against Callaghan. 

Callaghan’s Legal Aid lawyer signalled he would fight the forensics order in court in two weeks’ time and that his client will consider applying for bail. He did not appear in court on Thursday and he was formally refused bail. 

The alleged victim was taken to hospital for an assessment and the other child is now in the care of relatives. 

A crime scene was established at his home and a car was seized a short distance away, which will be forensically examined. 

TIMELINE OF ALLEGED THORNLEIGH ABDUCTION 

3.30pm Tuesday: Brett John Callaghan allegedly collects the girl from a skate park at Dartford Rd, Thornleigh and takes her home to his granny flat at Dural

4.30pm onwards: Callaghan allegedly ‘kisses and rubs’ the girl’s thighs and rapes her 

Just before 5.30pm: The girl’s family members report her missing to police after she failed to show at Westfield Hornsby, as planned

1.15am Wednesday: Police swoop on Callaghan’s property, allegedly rescuing the girl and taking her to hospital for assessment

Wednesday afternoon: Police are granted interim order from the court to take DNA samples from Callaghan, with the court hearing she was drugged

Thursday, 1pm: Callaghan’s lawyer appears in court and signals the accused man will fight a final court order for DNA samples. He is formally refused bail

 

Detective Superintendent Kerlatec told reporters police believe the 12-year-old left with the man ‘thinking she was in the care and custody of somebody she felt safe with’. 

‘We sense seeing the other young girl may have given her a sense of comfort, a sense of safety,’ he said.

‘There is concern for all parents at this time when restrictions are being lifted that we have people preying on vulnerable children.’ 

Detective Kerlatec said the family of the pre-teen girl were ‘distraught’. 

Police allege she was found in the home and was taken to hospital for assessment.

A crime scene was established at the home and a car was seized a short distance away, which will be forensically examined.

Callaghan was not known to the girl. 

The man was taken to Hornsby Police Station, where charges are expected to be laid. 

The other child remains in the care of family.

The search was conducted by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad, with assistance from Kuring-Gai Police Area Command. 

Child abuse and sex crimes squad detective superintendent John Kerlatec said on Wednesday the family of the young girl were 'distraught'

Child abuse and sex crimes squad detective superintendent John Kerlatec said on Wednesday the family of the young girl were ‘distraught’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk