A Griffith man who asked two 12-year-old girls to strip for him has been sentenced to nine months in prison, after he was charged with a number of serious offences.
The man, who appeared in Griffith Local Court on Wednesday, January 18, faced charges of wilful and obscene exposure in a public place or near a school, committing an act of indecency with a person under 16 years and committing an act of indecency with a person 16 years or over.
The man’s conduct first came into question on Friday, November 18, when one of the 12-year-old girls was in her front yard, located close to his home, playing and doing cartwheels and handstands as he watched.
Later that day she walked past the man who said “come to my house and I will show you some handball tricks" – an invitation she declined.
But a few days later the girl was again playing in her front yard, when she noticed the man outside his home watching her.
He was waving and smiling at her before walking into his home, returning outside completely naked.
That same day the young girl and her older sister tried to walk to a friend’s home, just four houses away.
They could see the man standing in the doorway of his home wearing a T-shirt, but no pants or underwear, as they walked by so they turned around and walked to the safety of their home.
Later that day the siblings tried again, joined by their brother and another 12-year-old friend, but again they noticed the man watching them through a window before he walked to his front door wearing no pants.
They kept walking to try to get to their friend’s home, but when they arrived no one was there forcing them to return back the way they had come.
On their way home they were again subjected to an unwanted display when the man walked out onto his porch holding his penis in his hand and moving it in a circular motion.
“I want you girls to come and strip for me,” he said, when their brother told him he shouldn’t do that in front of kids. The girls ran home and told their parents, who called police.
When police arrived at the man’s home and arrested him on November 23 he told them he knew he was in the wrong and that the girls were too young. The man, who suffers from schizophrenia, has previously been charged with similar offences in 2005.
