An abandoned hotel has become the site of a third alleged sexual assault in two years – as calls for the hotel’s demolition grow.
Two men have been arrested and charged with the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl at the former Batavia Motor Inn on Fitzgerald Street in Geraldton, Western Australia, on March 15.
Investigators claim George Wendy, 39, and Chad James Broad, 46, befriended the teenage girl and supplied her with alcohol before luring her into the abandoned building where they assaulted her.
The alleged ordeal occurred between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
It comes just months after Norman Trevor Gilbert, 34, pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman at the former hotel in December last year.
Calls for the abandoned Batavia Motor Inn (pictured) in Geraldton to be locked up and demolished grew after a third alleged sexual assault occurred at the site
Prior to that, James Robert Spresney, 21, was sentenced to five years in prison after he raped a 14-year-old girl at the Batavia Motor Inn in June 2021.
Sbresnii had been grooming the girl on Snapchat for several months before the sexual assault.
Psychotherapistwho lived in Preston, MelbourneHe met the girl after traveling to Western Australia during the state’s Covid lockdown and lying to border authorities to gain entry.
Sprisny claimed he had family in the state to avoid being sent back.
The latest sexual assault has prompted calls for the former hotel’s gates to be closed immediately after a recent alleged rape – which would also speed up its demolition.
The owners claim to have received a letter from Greater Geraldton City Council last Wednesday asking for the gates to be closed, according to reports. Western Australia.
“The City has reviewed the situation in light of the most recent serious incident at the site and is now requesting that the gates be closed and closed once the last persons on the site have been removed,” according to the owners.
“The city is working with the Communities Department, local police and support agencies to make this happen.”
George Wendy, 39, and Chad James Broad, 46, allegedly lured a 12-year-old girl into the abandoned building and sexually assaulted her on March 15
It comes nearly two years after James Robert Spresney (pictured), 21, was jailed for the rape of a 14-year-old girl at the Batavia Motor Inn in June 2021.
Fencing was initially installed around the building in late January, but the gates have been left open while council and community services work to remove squatters from the site.
The city of Greater Geraldton sued the site’s owners last November after the building was not demolished within 90 days.
“For several months, the city has been working with 54 Fitzgeralds to advance the demolition of the site and the erection of a large fence that was part of that process,” city chief executive Ross McKim told the publication.
Mr. McKim said the majority of squatters who were on site had been moved to new accommodation and for this reason the City of Geraldton had strongly urged “54 Fitzgeralds to close the gates” for the sake of “public safety”.
A spokesperson for the Communities Department claimed that the department had no authority over the site because it was privately owned but that the City of Geraldton, Washington police and the department had mutually agreed to close the fences.
The City of Geraldton launched a lawsuit against the site’s owners last year after it had not been demolished in 90 days. The recent alleged rape prompted them to send a letter to the owners demanding that they close the gates immediately to speed up the process.
Police arrested George Wendy on Wednesday and charged him with two counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 13.
He faced Geraldton Magistrates Court on Thursday where he was neither asked to petition nor apply for bail.
He has been detained pending investigation and will appear in court again next month.
Chad James Broad appeared before the same court last Friday on two counts of sexual penetration of a child under the age of 13 and one count of indecent conduct in aggravating circumstances relating to the company of another person.
He did not apply for bail and was returned to pre-trial detention. Prude will reappear in court again in May.
