Girl, 12, is allegedly raped on an Adelaide train by a 21-year-old man

A 12-year-old girl has been allegedly raped by a 21-year-old man on an Adelaide train.

The Aldinga Beach man appeared before Christies Beach Magistrates Court via video-link on Monday to request his identity be suppressed. 

Police allege the rape occurred on the Seaford train line between Christie Downs and Park Holme stations at about 5pm on Thursday, January 11. 

The man is yet to enter pleas to charges of indecent assault, engage in sexual intercourse with a person without consent and have sexual intercourse with a person under 14 years, The Advertiser reports. 

The court heard that facial recognition technology captured the man allegedly followed his young victim off the train at Marion station, in Adelaide’s south. 

Despite being in ‘severe shock’ the alleged victim gave a clear account of what had happened on the train, which was caught on CCTV, the court was told. 

A prosecutor told the court that clothing that matched what the man had been wearing at the time of the alleged incident had been found at his home. 

Officers found a bag and clothing that matched what the alleged attacker wore when he was arrested at his home, the court heard. 

The prosecutor said she was confident the clothing, CCTV footage and electronic evidence from the man’s MetroCARD linked him to the alleged rape. 

The court heard the man used his MetroCARD to catch another train after the alleged incident. 

Andrew Williams, for the defendant, argued facial recognition technology was ‘not evidence’ and that somebody would need to identify his client. 

‘If it’s CCTV somebody has to identify him from that,’ he told the magistrate. 

Mr Williams asked the court to suppress his client’s identity who he said intended to apply for home detention bail. 

Magistrate Briony Kennewell agreed to suppress the man’s identity for a week. 

Her ruling will be reviewed next week when the man, from Adelaide’s south, returns to court to continue his application for release on bail. 

He will then return to court in August for a charge determination.