A MAN has appeared in court to face dozens of allegations that he raped and abused children seven years ago.

Graham Carson, 66, appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday to face 28 allegations of sexual offences against children.

The abuse is alleged to have been carried out between February 2013 and June 2014.

Carson, of The Drive, Clacton, faces nine counts of raping a girl under the age of 13.

He also faces two counts of attempted rape, five counts of assault by penetration, five counts of sexual assault and seven counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Rima Begum, prosecuting, said: “These are indictable-only offences. These were multiple sexual offences carried out against children.

“As you’ve heard, a lot of the matters can only be dealt with by a crown court.

“The other matters are clearly linked to that offending, therefore all matters should be allocated to the crown court.”

Judge Timothy King sent the case to Chelmsford Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing which is due to take place on Tuesday, August 31.

He said: “You must attend court on that occasion and you must tell the court whether you plead guilty or not guilty to the charges you face.

“If you plead guilty you will be sentenced, if you plead not guilty a trial date will be set, probably for next year.”

Carson was released on conditional bail, with conditions not to contact several people involved in the case and not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.

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