Former Canberra rock climbing coach Stephen Mitchell is set to face 10 more charges of sexual abuse, after a brief appearance in the ACT Magistrates Court.
The 56-year-old is already facing charges for acts of indecency involving three girls, who were between 11 and 14 at the time when he was coaching local and international climbers in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The new charges are more serious, and include several counts of statutory rape and two counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years.
Prosecutors had already foreshadowed the charges, telling the court earlier this year another alleged victim had come forward after publicity about the case.
Police have code-named their investigation "Operation Pyrite".
Mr Mitchell was released on bail after his first appearance in court earlier this year.
He has already indicated he will fight the first set of charges.
But the new charges have not been formally read to him, although they were acknowledged by his lawyer during a mention on Monday, July 18.
Mr Mitchell is now facing a total of 17 charges.
The case will be back in court in September.
Mitchell coached a number of champion junior rock climbers in Canberra from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, and, for a time, was employed by the Australian Institute of Sport.
In the early 2000s, he was employed by the ACT PCYC in a position funded by the Australian Federal Police.
And in the mid-2000s, he was employed for a number of years by Sport Climbing Australia, rock climbing's governing body.
