A former Kmart manager has been charged with a slew of offences after allegedly abusing four teenage female employees while they worked under his care.
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they → charge → care
Scott Ian Whittaker, 44, from the ACT, was charged with eight counts of acts of indecency with a young person under special care last week.
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Whittaker → charge → care
Police allege Whittaker, who was the duty manager at Kmart's Belconnen store in the ACT between 2016 and 2018, committed indecent acts against two teenage girls who worked with him at the store.
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who → allege → store
It is understood the father of four was also employed at multiple retail chain stores in Belconnen Westfield between 2017 and 2020.
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father → understand → 2017
According to a charge sheet seen by the Daily Mail, Whittaker has also been charged with 16 more offences, including seven counts of acts of indecency on a person between 10 and 16 years old.
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He was also charged with one count each of using the internet to deprave a young person, common assault, supplying liquor to a child and a reckless threat to kill another person.
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He has also previously been charged with allegedly committing acts of indecency on two teenage girls at his home in October 2017 while he was their direct manager.
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he → charge → October
He has already entered not guilty pleas to those charges.
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Whittaker is next due to appear before ACT Magistrates Court on October 21, where all 24 charges are listed.
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A former Kmart manager has been charged with dozens of offences relating to four teenage female employees who worked under his supervision
Soon after a 14-year-old girl began working at Kmart Belconnen, Whittaker began texting her.
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Whittaker → charge → her
Pictured is an example of messages sent between the pair in January 2018
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example → picture → January
During a mention in court last week, ACT prosecutor James Melloy flagged the potential trial could take weeks due to the size of the Crown's case, which includes 17 civilian witnesses, Region Canberra reports.
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His lawyer, Ryan Mackenzie of Legal Aid, told the court that the latest charges were alternatives or back-ups to existing charges that related to a particular complainant, as it was currently unclear what age she was at the time of the alleged offences.
Whittaker, who has sought to hide his identity when pictured outside of court, is yet to enter pleas to the latest charges.
In 2021, he pleaded guilty to numerous sex offences against a 15-year-old girl who worked at Kmart, including raping her and using her for the production of child abuse material while she was in her high school uniform.
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she → tell → uniform
The ACT Supreme Court heard Whittaker, who'd just been unlisted from a child sex offender register for an earlier crime, had begun messaging the girl over social media soon after she started working at the retailer when she was 14.
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she → hear → retailer
Disturbing text messages seen by the Daily Mail show Whittaker's pattern of abuse spanned over a year, with Whittaker consistently messaging her over Snapchat.
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Whittaker → see → Snapchat
In one of the messages, dated on the girl's 15th birthday, Whittaker told her: 'My beautiful baby girl I can't believe it's your birthday already!
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it → date → her
I remember us joking about how it needs to hurry up, and now it's finally here.'
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it → remember → ?
He added: 'Happy birthday my angel, I love you, with all my heart and soul, and I will till the end of time.'
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I → add → time
The court heard Whittaker began sexually offending against the girl after she turned 15.
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she → hear → 15
Pictured is a message he sent on Valentine's Day in 2018
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he → picture → 2018
A few weeks later, on Valentine's Day, the pair exchanged messages in which the girl said Whittaker was the person she had 'done allll her firsts [sic]' with.
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she → exchange → firsts
'You are truly the most beautiful girl in the world, and I am so blessed to call you my girlfriend.
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I → call → you
[The] love and happiness you bring me is phenomenal, and I couldn't thank you enough for being the perfect girl that you are!'
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you → bring → you
Whittaker replied.
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Whittaker → reply → ?
'I am yours till the end of time, and promise to always love and respect you, to always be there and do all that I can to make you happy!
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you → promise → all
I love you with all of me, and forever and always will!
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I → love → me
The court heard their sexual relationship lasted around 12 months, from just before the girl's 15th birthday to when she turned 16.
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she → hear → birthday
Chief Justice Helen Murrell stated there was a 'very significant' age gap that held a heavy power imbalance.
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that → state → imbalance
'The complainant perceived that her relationship with the offender was one of 'boyfriend/girlfriend' in which she consented to the sexual interaction,' Justice Murrell said.
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Murrell → perceive → interaction
'This perception does not detract from the abusive nature of the relationship.
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perception → detract → relationship
By virtue of her age, the complainant lacked the capacity to give real consent.
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complainant → lack → consent
Court documents show police discovered Whittaker's abuse when they raided his home and workplace in March 2021 after receiving a referral that an account linked to a Hotmail email address in his name was storing files containing child abuse material.
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account → show → material
When police examined his devices, they found 383 child abuse videos on his phone and sexualised images and videos of the girl, and the messages between them.
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they → examine → them
In August 2021, he was jailed for nine and a half years and was eligible to be released on parole in May this year.
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he → jail → May
The Daily Mail has contacted Kmart for comment.
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Mail → contact → comment
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Do you know more?
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you → know → more
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