Yahoo News Flasher finally convicted 10 years after his first offence for whistling at woman while touching himself
A man who exposed himself to a woman in Burbage Common 10 years ago has finally been convicted after committing a similar crime at another beauty spot last year. Jonathan Forrest, 50, had been in the car park at the country park near Hinckley in May 2014 when a woman saw him performing a sex act on himself "vigorously" while she and two younger women were approaching.
She told the younger women to walk away and called 999, but when Leicestershire Police questioned him he said he had been urinating and the case against him was dropped. In March last year they were called to a car park in Covert Lane, Scraptoft, where a woman out for a walk had heard a man whistle twice at her.
When she turned she saw Forrest sitting in his car with the door open, touching himself. She left and later gave Leicestershire Police a description of the car he had been driving and they traced the vehicle using local CCTV cameras and identified Forrest.
The force also re-opened the 2014 case and both matters went to trial at Leicester Magistrates' Court earlier this year. He was found guilty of two counts of exposure and was back at court for sentencing on Thursday.
The court heard that the second incident had happened on Tuesday, March 21, last year. Prosecutor Ryan Houghton told the magistrates: "The female who contacted police said she saw a male sat in his car with one leg out of the driver's side door.
"The man whistled at her twice and she looked and saw him [performing a sex act]. In his interview, the defendant denied the offence and said he went to the location to urinate.
"There were questions put to him as to why he hadn't gone to Tesco or McDonald's that were nearer to him instead of the car park three miles away. He said he just didn't think of that."
Robin Johl, representing Forrest, passed the magistrates a letter from Forrest's wife, which he said described Forrest as "a decent man and a family man". Mr Johl said: "They are vile offences that should not happen in civilised society.
"Mr Forrest should have learned his lesson after the earlier incident. The defendant has some deep-seated problems in regard to his sexuality." He said Forrest was a paid carer for one of his sons.
Forrest was given a 24-month community order with 180 hours of unpaid work and told to pay each of his two victims £150, along with £350 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge. He will have to regularly attend a police station as a registered sex offender.
