Melbourne Actor charged with 103 counts of child abuse

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/brighton-man-jeremy-kewley-faces-103-child-sex-abuse-charges-20141218-129nvo.html

The Age wrote:

An actor with credits on some of Australia's most popular television programs is alleged to have molested boys while on camera after inviting them to perform screen tests, a court has heard.

Jeremy Kewley, 56, who has appeared in Neighbours, Cop Shop, Patrol Boat, The Sullivans and the legal drama Janus, is charged with 103 counts of indecently assaulting a child under the age of 16, and a further two counts of possessing child pornography.

Mr Kewley was arrested in August and charged by sexual offence detectives on Thursday, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard.

Jeremy Kewley warming up The Footy Show audience.
Jeremy Kewley warming up The Footy Show audience.

Prosecutor Luisa Di Pietrantonio told the court Mr Kewley had the boys wear Lycra suits and appear on camera with him in June and July of 2011, during which he touched them, rubbed against them to simulate sex or kissed them on the lips.

Ms Di Pietrantonio said Mr Kewley had advertised for boys to appear in screen tests for a movie, and had 27 boys apply. The court was not told how many boys were allegedly indecently assaulted.

In charge sheets tendered to the court, police allege Mr Kewley touched boys on the groin and buttocks, pushed himself against them, kissed them on the lips and pulled their costumes away.

The charges of child pornography involve allegations he had images of children on his computer, showing them in an indecent sexual manner.

He was in possession of the images in August last year, the charge sheets allege.

Mr Kewley, of Brighton, appeared in court dressed in a white business shirt and dark pants.

The court heard the prosecution had no objection to Mr Kewley being granted bail, provided he surrender his passport, not leave Victoria and not have any unsupervised contact with children.

Magistrate Lance Martin granted bail.

Mr Kewley appeared as a child in Fred Schepisi's 1976 film The Devil's Playground and during a career spanning almost 40 years, has also had roles in other films and television series including The Young Doctors, Blue Heelers, City Homicide, SeaChange and Fat Tony & Co, in which he portrayed underworld figure Des Moran.

According to the Internet Movie Database website, Mr Kewley has a role in the Australian film The Legend of Ben Hall, a movie about a bushranger which is scheduled for release next year.

The website also attributes roles to the actor in a handful of other movies which are currently in post-production.

He has also worked as a warm-up artist on The Footy Show.

Mr Kewley was supported in court by one man, who left shortly before the hearing finished.

He is due to return to court on March 13.

I've met this guy quite a few times… We had the same agent, I've been to his house for one week of an acting course and decided it wasn't for me - it didn't sit right being there. Plus I auditioned for a project he was producing. Me and quite a few of my friends in the business all found him a little creepy. He's an acting coach, and when one of his male students would achieve a level of success, he'd post a picture of them they've done from some kind of promotional shoot where they're topless, or naked on stage, or when they're hugging each other. He'd tell stories of how he'd "avoided" sleeping in the beds of "well known actors" when he was a young whippersnapper who wanted him to give head to get ahead, but he never went through with it.

Fucking poor kids… Impressionable and looking up at him as a role model and he takes advantage of it.

Is this the guy you auditioned for in your underpants, Jason?

Haha nope - that was at an internationally recognised academy.

FieldsMan wrote:

Haha nope - that was at an internationally recognised academy.

And were you internationally recognised?

Sure was.

Guys like him need to be...

oops, someone else was banned recently for saying that.

...but he really needs it.