DJ hit with new child abuse claims

A DJ and convicted sex offender who was released from prison just three months ago has been hit with more child sexual abuse allegations and has attempted to access children again, a court has heard.

On Friday, former Adelaide nightlife DJ and owner of Yeah Hard Entertainment, Nicholas Emmanuel Athans, faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court charged with unlawful sexual intercourse and making a child amenable to sexual activity.

Athans’ defence lawyer, Rachel Shaw, told magistrate Lana Chester her client was facing a “serious charge” of unlawful sexual intercourse dating back to 2014 when Athans was 18-years-old.

“He has recently completed a sentence and it is alleged that since he was released, he did not notify that he had a telephone, he did not report that he had contacted a child and that when he signed a form to say he didn’t have a phone, he in fact did,” Ms Shaw said.

“We could potentially look at this as two separate matters. We have a historical sexual offence in which it is alleged when Mr Athans was 18, and then we have some recent breaches, very recent in having recently been released from custody.”

In June 2021, Athans was convicted of four counts of procuring a child to engage in or submit to sexual activity after a trial by judge alone in January earlier that year.

The court heard that upon his release on December 22, 2022 Athans again took possession of a mobile phone and began contacting children despite parole conditions forbidding either action.

On Friday, the Director of Public Prosecutions Martin Hinton KC opposed any form of bail for Athans, claiming that a history of breaching bail agreements only made Athans more aware of what he was prohibited from doing.

“The reason why he was in custody in the first place was because he had four convictions of making a child amenable, and in the course of that offending he had used social media. And so the idea was: keep him away from social media – keep them safe,” Mr Hinton said.

“Bail conditions required that he not access social media, and that he not work with children.

“He indeed accessed social media, and he was part of an organising committee and I think part of the DJ set up for an after school formal party.”

He said within hours of being released on parole, Athans had accessed an iPhone.

“It’s targeting vulnerable persons using a mobile telephone – the very thing that conditions twice have sought to prevent and failed, and for that reason, bail is opposed.”

Magistrate Chester refused any form of bail, telling Athans that the conditions of his parole were clear.

“Certainly it is concerning to the court that those three allegations of failing to comply with the necessary orders that have been placed upon you were not complied with,” Ms Chester said.

“These are serious allegations before the court, and I do have some serious concerns around the allegations of the offending.

“I do refuse bail, citing the seriousness of the allegations before the court and the risk of reoffending and of course, the protection of the community.”

Athans will appear in court again in May.