Former chef says alleged sexual assault was ‘a joke’

Former chef Mitchell James Efeimoff faced a Brisbane court on Monday, facing allegations of sexual assault.

Efeimoff is accused of more than 20 offences including the sexual assault and stalking of young women. He was charged last month with 18 counts of sexual assault and four counts of unlawful stalking, intimidation or harassment.

The 34-year-old accused has been in custody for two months and applied for bail this week. He has worked in hospitality for over 15 years.

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher opposed the bail application, telling the court that Efeimoff’s could reoffend outside the workplace.

The court heard Efeimoff was seen touching women on their hips and back.

Gallagher told the hearing that a witness had “actually seen some messages including one from [Efeimoff] saying ‘I can’t stop looking at your boobs’ sent to one of the complainants.”

The witness also claimed Efeimoff told him the alleged offending was “all just a joke”.

Efeimoff’s victims were mostly younger than 18, except for one woman.

“There is a large number of complainants, and it’s not just, one might think, a workplace environment where that risk arises that he’s in a position with young women that he has some kind of authority over,” Gallagher told the court.

Efeimoff’s barrister, Daniel Caruana argued for release under the conditions that he live in Dalby, west of Brisbane, and complete a sexual offending program.

He said two months in custody was a deterrent for future offending.

It is alleged Efeimoff committed some of the offences while already on bail for other offending that was similar in nature.

Efeimoff had previously received a 15 months’ wholly suspended sentence.

Gallagher was concerned Efeimoff would be placed on a wait list for a sexual offending program. She was also concerned by evidence from six psychological sessions.

“So, on the back of these six sessions, he’s got a report saying he’s low risk and he uses that to say to the probation authorities, ‘I don’t care what you assess me as, I don’t need it’, and that’s a concerning feature,” Gallagher said.

Justice Thomas Bradley questioned the defence barrister about how Efeimoff would manage attending counselling sessions in Beenleigh while residing in Dalby and simultaneously seeking and maintaining employment if released.

The defence barrister requested that the bail application be adjourned to investigate potential employment opportunities for Efeimoff upon his release.

Justice Bradley was expected to reach a decision on the bail application within a few days.

Jonathan Jackson, 25^th June 2024