A COURT has heard there has been a hold-up in the case of a man accused of luring a teenage girl to a guesthouse in Tamworth before sexually assaulting her.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Adam Lindsey Roy Cobb appeared via video link in Tamworth Local Court before the court heard he had been wrongly transferred to Tamworth Correctional Centre.
"I understand there was an administrative error that led to you being transported," magistrate Julie Soars told Cobb.
"I apologise."
Legal Aid solicitor Rae Parker said there was a joint application between the Crown and the defence to adjourn the matter because of a hold-up.
READ ALSO:
"[A] delay in the case conference from my end," Ms Parker told the court.
She added the case had been "re-briefed" with the Crown within the DPP, meaning another prosecutor was taking over the matter.
Ms Parker said both sides wanted the case to make it to the district court for the April sittings, with discussions continuing.
Ms Soars granted the adjournment to next month.
"[I'll note] further discussions taking place," she told the court.
Cobb made no application for bail and it was formally refused.
Cobb is yet to enter a plea to the charge of having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14 - a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 16 years' imprisonment, if found guilty.
The DPP dropped charges of aggravated sexual assault of a victim under 16; and having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14, last year in the same court.
It was the police case that Cobb met the 13-year-old girl at a Tamworth park on September 5, 2018, and invited her back to the guesthouse and allegedly abused her.
Detectives from the state's Child Abuse and Sex Crimes Squad launched an investigation in February last year, after a report a teenage girl had been sexually assaulted.
The pair were not known to each other before the alleged incident, police claim.
After investigations, Cobb was arrested at Newcastle police station in August and charged.