A Perth photographer accused of sexually assaulting two children told police that he “maybe overstepped the boundary” when chatting to a 12-year-old girl about sex.
Clint Budgen said he was trying to help the youngster, who he claimed had asked him for advice about her period.
The 49-year-old asked her about taking the pill and then discussed her relationship with her boyfriend, who was about to turn 16.
He said during a police interview he told her “anything more than a peck on the cheek” could be seen as sexual.
“I was only trying to protect them,” he told investigators.
“It wasn’t like I was encouraging them to have sex. I was telling them not to.”
Budgen, who has gone on trial at Perth Sheriff Court, said to police that he had perhaps “overstepped the boundary” but that he was trying to help her.
Open doors
The trial heard Budgen had an “open doors policy” at his previous address and children would regularly stop by after school to watch movies and play video games.
Jurors were shown footage of Budgen’s interview with police.
Asked if he finds children sexually attractive, he replied: “The idea repulses me.”
It is alleged Budgen showed one of the girls a photo of a naked adult woman.
He told police he girl had been using his laptop when she clicked on a folder marked ‘Explicit’.
“She saw for a brief second a nude woman,” he said.
“It was not my intention.”
He denied hugging the children but did occasionally tell them he loved them, police were told.
Sex education
The court also saw video of a police interview with an 11-year-old schoolgirl.
She said that Budgen had talked to her about “sex education” at his house.
The youngster told police: “He’d talk about it, but I tried to change the conversation because it grosses me out.
“I didn’t understand most of the things he was saying, but I’m guessing they were rude.”
The allegations
Budgen, of Dunkeld Road, Perth, is accused of, on various occasions, between January 2016 and February 2019, at his previous address, sexually assault a youngster – then aged three to six – and lie in bed with her and rub her legs and body.
He is further accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old at various times between September and November 2018, by repeatedly touching her buttocks, tickling her on the body and hugging her.
Budgen is accused of causing the same girl to look at an image of a naked adult female in a sexually provocative pose, and on other occasions discussed with her matters of a sexual nature.
It is alleged that, between November 2018 and February 2019, he did intentionally and for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification or of humiliating or alarming an 11-year-old girl, cause her to hear a sexual verbal communication.
Budgen denies all charges.
The trial before Sheriff Charles McNair continues.
