CHAMPION amateur boxer and former Wagga resident Leroy Fisher will remain behind bars until at least next month over allegations he violently raped a woman at his home south of Wollongong.
Fisher was refused bail in Port Kembla court this week, despite the 20-year-old's father, John Fisher, proposing that his son stay with him at his address in Brunskill Road, Lake Albert, hundreds of kilometres away from the alleged victim.
Mr Fisher Snr also said he could put up a cash surety of $5000 to ensure his son obeyed any bail conditions and turned up to court.
However, magistrate Michael Stoddart noted Fisher's employer had offered double that amount during a previous application and still failed to secure his release.
Fisher, who moved from Wagga to the Illawarra a year ago to pursue his boxing career, is accused of using handcuffs to restrain the woman during the July 20 assault, after verbally and physically attacking her.
Police claim the woman had been at Fisher’s home in the Wollongong suburb of Berkeley for about two and a half hours, however was prevented from leaving the house around 8.30pm.
It is alleged Fisher grabbed the woman’s phone in a fit of anger and later threw it against a wall, smashing it.
The NSW Boxing Championships gold medallist then allegedly grabbed the woman by her hair and covered her mouth, before subjecting her to a violent sexual assault.
The alleged incident was reported to Lake Illawarra police the following day when the woman attended Wollongong Hospital.
Fisher was arrested that afternoon and charged with aggravated sexual assault (inflicting bodily harm).
If convicted, Fisher faces a maximum jail sentence of 20 years.
The charge also carries a standard non-parole period of 10 years.
Fisher's lawyer, Matthew Roberton, said his client would defend the allegations "at this stage", despite police claims that he made certain admissions to the alleged assault during a post-arrest interview.
Mr Roberton said Fisher had had apparently undiagnosed dyslexia from a young age and claimed it could have impacted what he'd said during the police interview - a matter that would need further exploration by experts.
The case will return to court on September 16.
