An Adelaide magistrate has committed a man to stand trial in the District Court for the attempted rape of a 13-year-old schoolgirl after he told the court he “just doesn’t care anymore.”
Key points:
- Anthony Stengewis is accused of attempting to rape a girl at a Gilberton bus stop in February
- He has been in custody at James Nash House
- The magistrate has put him down as pleading guilty
Anthony James Stengewis, 52, has been charged with attempting to engage in sexual intercourse without consent and assault with attempt to commit rape.
Staff at the secure mental health facility James Nash House, where Mr Stengewis has been in custody, told Magistrate John Wells that he did not want to appear in court this morning.
“He just doesn’t care anymore,” the staff told Magistrate Wells.
His lawyers then conceded Mr Stengewis had a case to answer.
Magistrate John Wells said he would take that as a “not guilty” plea before sending his case to the District Court in November.
In February, the court heard Mr Stengewis asked the schoolgirl, who was waiting at a Gilberton bus stop, if she had a boyfriend before allegedly pushing her into a garden bed and attempting to rape her.
“The male didn’t stop and there was no-one else around,” the prosecutor said while opposing bail in February.
“The victim started kicking the male to the stomach and groin area.”
The court heard Mr Stengewis was living in a rooming house in Medindie – two-to-three minutes walk from the alleged crime scene — and after the alleged attempted rape walked off in that direction.
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