The man accused of choking an 11-year-old Canberra girl unconscious has now been charged with sexually assaulting the child after police allegedly found "disturbing" electronic evidence.
Anthony James Kenyon, 23, has been in custody since February, when he was arrested after allegedly knocking the girl off her bike as she rode through Fadden Pines on her way home from school.
Kenyon sat in the dark on Monday at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, where the lights went out as he appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court via audio-visual link.
He applied for bail and pleaded not guilty to a new charge of sexual assault in the third degree, which alleges that he assaulted the girl with intent to engage in sexual intercourse.
The latest allegation follows police retrieving a HP laptop from Kenyon's room at his mother's house in Calwell.
The court heard forensic analysis of the laptop allegedly showed he had searched porn websites for the terms "rape", "little", "girl", "young" and "force".
Police also allege he Googled the term "felony murder" in January, a few weeks before the incident.
Prosecutor Katie McCann said the new evidence was a "disturbing window into the attack", while Kenyon's barrister, Travis Jackson, said there was "a paucity" of DNA evidence linking him to the attack.
Magistrate Louise Taylor denied Kenyon bail, saying she did not think any conditions were capable of "mitigating the risk that is clearly presented on the prosecution case".
Ms Taylor said the 11-year-old girl had provided a "strong identification of the defendant", who had allegedly carried out a "random, predatory and brazen" attack.
"One wonders what kind of conditions could be put in place to address that kind of disturbed motivation," the magistrate said.
Tuggeranong constable Mikali Hill had earlier told the court Kenyon was also arrested after an incident in 2017 in Gordon, where he allegedly put his hand down the shorts of a boy. However, there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
The court also heard there was some confusion over the charges originally laid against Kenyon in relation to the February incident.
Mr Jackson said he had been instructed Kenyon had pleaded not guilty to common assault and choking, though Ms Taylor said court records showed a guilty plea to the assault charge.
Kenyon is due to appear in court again on May 19.
