A popular TikTok chef who once had than 67,000 followers allegedly attempted to ‘seduce’ and sexually assaulting teenage girls, a court has heard
Abhishesh Bista, 27, a chef and part-time business owner from Rockhampton in Central Queensland has been charged with a string of offences, including two counts of sexual assault, three of indecent treatment of a child under 16 and two of indecent treatment of a child under 15 (permit).
His lawyers made an application in Rockhampton District Court this week for three separate trials to run testing the allegations of three complainants aged 14-15, The Courier Mail reported.
While handing down his decision about the application, Judge Jeff Clarke said Bista had allegedly kissed, fondled and had ‘other sexual contact with girls who all have a similar age…over the same period of time’.
Popular TikTok chef Abhishesh Bista (pictured) has been accused of grooming teenage girls and allegedly sexually assaulting them
‘The defendant is alleged to have engaged in similar grooming behaviour,’ Judge Clarke told the court.
‘To attempt to seduce the girls.
‘An unusual feature is the risk the defendant took to (allegedly) offend when there were [others around].’
Judge Clarke dismissed the application to have the allegations in separate trials, saying prejudice issues that could arise from having multiple complainants would be dealt with by appropriate jury direction.
The matter is listed to be next mentioned in court this Wednesday.
A prerecording hearing is scheduled for August 5.
More than 67,000 fans previously followed Bista on TikTok. The popular account has since been taken down.
Abhishesh Bista (pictured) had an application denied in Rockhampton District Court for there to be separate trials for each of the three complainants
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk