SERIOUSN CHARGE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 11324, 30 September 1930, Page 2

SERIOUSN CHARGE

YOUNG- aiajrMed MAN BEFORE . GOTJR-T ...

DECISION HELD OYER

After a hearing of a serious charge against ,a. young man in tho .Magistrate •: Court: yesterday, extending, over.about five and .a-halfhours, Mr. P. H'. Harper. 5.M,,. decided not to. give his decision until he liad. view-, ed -tiio house arid the locality generally in which the alleged; offence ocThe charge against accused, who is 31 years of age, was of, a hegeU wilful indecent .exposure on Septemher- 3 and 5 within view of a publio place, to wit, a house in Aber-> deon road, witli intent to insult orannoy certain persons. Sergeant Culloty prosecuted and Mr R. B. HilL appeared for tho acCU Srirgeant Culloty. said on the dates named three schoolgirls wore passin o- the house where accused resides. Tliev were' coming from Kaliutia. street and going . along Aberdeen road. One of the. girls saw trio accused in trie alleged act and calleih trio attention of the other girls to it. One of the girls then told -her mother. A few minutes later the girls left the house and again saw accused in the alleged act and the, mother herself came along and also allegedly saw a similar Sl 6h • , similar * incident, it was ..alleged tool? place on September 5. , but. on this occason the girls told the woman next door, and s^l 9, . c along, but did not see anything ot the alleged act., , vram(T The eviderice given by duo youtg crirls and a. married woman was to the effect that as trie girls were passing the house they had seen accused in the act of committing die alleged offence. Another girl, wno had been with the other-two. stated that, she turned away. Another inatried woman gave evidence that. slit; went to • seek a neighbour s assistance on being told of the alleged act bv the. young girls. •Constable Birch gave evidence as to visiting the house, and. taking measurements for plans which w produced in Court.1 Sergeant Culloty gave evidence as to visiting accused in company with Constable 6 Birch. In the course of a statement to witness, .accused denied the charge of wilful exposure, and said he was changing Ins suit. My tool accused to.the police station where he was identified. Accused was then charged with both offences. Mr Hill said there was no charge that any decent- man would sooner roMyy. «r : iv than the present one, ioi il no were convicted he would he branded as a moral and social pervert and branded as a leper or amadni*n. That being so it ever be tell he was defending the honor ot .a man and The uian is went, the offence is not exposuie but wilful exposure. If. it is not wilful, then there is no crime, n.o ..ollenco. Surely if any place in the woild ;-m,lcV V vogartlcd « sncrossmrt it was a man’s . bedroom. It was obvious that obscene exposure maj i )P caused through many cncumstances —inadvertency, ignorance, accident or necessity. Counsel suhimitted that no offence was disclosed. It the evidence is true, there was only one explanation—that, the man i the- dock was .a sexual peiveit-, hut the'evidence was going to show the reverse. There was no suggestion that accused was a sexual Pfrveit lie said. The, explanation was that- he was dressing. . . The 'Magistrate (referring to the fact that accused' had been seen on two occasions’):• Well ho must hayp undressed again. Counsel,' ' continuing, submitted that there was not- the . slightest evidence of -wilful - exposure. the accused had -apparently been seen in a state of nudity but at "' as - n ?^ wilful. Purely.a man could stand^ in . own bedroom in a, quiet, htthi stieet. Opposite the accused s bedi oom wmdow was a blank wall. As his client had said lie would, hayo much ap predated it if-anyone had told him he was being observed. On tbodsjs. in question ;■ accused was simply changing into his. best clothes for. tho purpose of-going to visit Dr. R Evidence as to accused’s moral character was. given by the managing director of the. company m which accused was .employed, and tie s: emanager, both, testifying to the h.gri esteem in which he was heldDr. Rice said he had known aeciised about ten years, lie and always foiiritl -him a man ' perrectly stable, of good mentality and al- ; wavs well-balanced. In witness opinion he was not mentally affected. Accused "in evidence said he riaci been married over eight years, and lived at Aberdeen road. He and jus wife were sharing the house withanother couple. 'He was a salesman. Ho remembered changing into another suit off the dates named. He had no idea he was being watched from outside otherwise ho would have pulled down the blind. Ho had no idea in his mind of exposing himself. If he did so it was through ignorance. He denied peeping through a blind as stated by witnesses.. To Sergeant Culloty:. He would not deny that some - time ago he stayed at:the Coronation Hotel., He occupied a room facing Lowe, street-. Ho probably did spend a good deal of his time on the balcony. He

•would deny he had been seen peeping into the rooms. He did not know he 1 was watched. He admitted, that if one went on to the verandahs of the Coronation or Masonic , Hotels, one would see under the blinds. In walking up and down the verandahs of the' hotels one could see people coming into the rooms and pulling down blinds. Air Hill said there was ono request he would like to make and that was that the Magistrate should first visit the locality and see the house before delivering judgment. Concluding Air. Hill stated that the offence was not wilful.'

The Magistrate said that before giving a decision ho proposed to view the. locality., -./'