• 7 years ago
• Posted in:Child Sexual Abuse, Public Decency Offences, Sexual Offences
• 0
• Author: Thomas Gradgrind
• Tags: Aged 50-59, Autogynephilia, Brighton, Child victim, Community order, Convicted 2017, Employment terminated, England, Excuses for sex offences, Fetish, Get Out Of Jail Free card, Male victim, Multiple victims, Neighbour victim, No jail, Offended 2016, Offended 2017, Public masturbation, Repeat offender, Sussex, Transvestite, Women's/child's underwear

Michael Cohen, a male transvestite, was convicted at Brighton Magistrates Court in December 2017 of outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner. Cohen, 53, was given a community order for 12 months with 80 hours’ unpaid community work, and ordered to pay £170 costs and victim surcharge.

Cohen admitted exposing his penis in a park where young children were playing after a member of the public told the court he had seen the defendant “wearing women’s sport clothing”. “It appears he had a lady sports crop top and leggings. He then started rearranging himself. He faced towards me and the park and pulled down his red knickers and started masturbating.” Cohen said he had a fetish for wearing women’s clothing and took a day off work to run in the park.

The court heard Cohen had been spoken to by the police on two previous occasions after people had reported him exposing himself in public places, once in June 2016 when he was seen reportedly touching himself in a park near a playgroup and again in September 2016 after he was seen reportedly masturbating in the street by a neighbour in the early hours. No action was taken.

The judge said that she was concerned by the presence of children and whether Cohen had been acting for personal gratification. He denied he was masturbating or a sexual motive for his actions, instead offering the court the excuse that he was scratching himself due to a fungal infection. The judge said that he had admitted what the law regarded as a lewd, obscene or disgusting act and that the act doesn’t have to be intended to be seen. “You said that you exposed your penis but you were not masturbating.” “It seems from what I’ve heard that there can be very little alternative explanation for you taking the action you did where you did.”

At a later hearing, Chairman of magistrates Dr Peter Sutton said he could not be sure beyond reasonable doubt that Cohen was masturbating so the defendant was permitted to plead guilty to outraging public decency on the basis he was not masturbating.

Cohen has been dismissed from his employment as a salesman since the incident.

See also Geoffrey Cowell, Sam Broadhurst, Claire Darbyshire, Shane Turner, Andrew Macrae and Gary Marie and many more male trans sex offenders and/or autogynephiles who have stolen women’s clothes and/or worn women & children’s underwear for sexual gratification purposes.

Photo via The Argus

Media reports

Brighton & Hove News http://www.brightonandhovenews.org/2017/11/30/portslade-man-admits-outraging-public-decency/ archive

The Argus http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/15768693.Salesman_in_sports_bra_exposed_himself_in_children___s_play_area/ archive