A MAN has appeared in court charged with a string of sexual offences.
Stephen Gallagher is accused of a total of 15 offences - five of them being rape of a children under the age of 13.
The other eight charges consist of sexual assault, indecent assault and penetrative sexual activity with a child under 16.
During a short hearing at Colchester Magistrates' Court, Gallagher was told the five rape charges were indictable only and would have to be dealt with at crown court.
No pleas were entered to the other charges.
It was indicated that Gallagher, of Normandy Avenue, Colchester, would deny the charges at the plea and trial preparation hearing at Ipswich Crown Court in August.
The charges relate to four different complainants.
The 53-year-old was given bail on the conditions he does not contact any of the four complaints nor has any unsupervised contact with children under the age of 16.
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