A man charged with sex offences allegedly committed while he worked as a mental health nurse in WA has been granted bail.
Perth detectives allege that Adam Simon McGovern sexually assaulted a girl who was 14 years old at the time of the first offence.
He was a qualified mental health nurse who worked in regional WA.
Perth Magistrates Court heard the child was a patient.
The 48-year-old has been charged with multiple counts of sexually penetrating a child over 13 and under 16 years, and indecently dealing with a child over 13 and under 16, and one count of indecently recording a child.
The Mount Nasura man has also been charged with persistent sexual conduct.
It's alleged the offences occurred in regional WA, Perth and West Perth.
Police seized electronic devices and said child exploitation material was allegedly discovered, including thousands of images and videos.
The court heard he had allegedly admitted to a relationship in an intercepted phone call with the complainant.
During the bail application, Mr McGovern's lawyer Tony Elliott said his client was not a flight risk.
Mr Elliott said his client was in a long-term relationship with a woman who had attended court to support him, and he had been living in Australia for at least 15 years.
He said Mr McGovern was from the UK, and had British and Australian passports.
The court heard while he had purchased a one-way ticket to Bali late last year, there was no factual basis that this was done in order to escape arrest.
While it may be accepted that the prosecution case was "relatively strong", the complainant was "a troubled girl", Mr Elliott told the court, and the allegations were "not of substance".
In opposing bail, the police prosecutor said Mr McGovern had been "in a position of authority over the victim".
It was "a case against what was a serving practitioner" and "bail should be incredibly hard", he said.
He posed the question: "Is it in the public interest that this person gets bail?"
Magistrate Sarah Oliver said there was no public interest test in regards to granting bail.
She imposed strict conditions, including a $50,000 undertaking, a $50,000 surety, surrender of his Australian and UK passports, not going near an airport, not using any electronic devices capable of encryption, no contact whatsoever with the complainant, no unsupervised access of anyone under 18, and reporting to a police station every day.
Mr McGovern, who had been in custody since January 13, was freed to appear in court again on March 29.
