‘High risk’ to all women

Self-described ‘artist’ denies crude claims

A MAN accused of performing lewd acts as women exercised along the Barwon River has claimed he is an artist and that he was actually drawing a sketch from inside his car.

Ashley Allen Ames, 44, has been charged over two separate incidents that allegedly took place earlier this year.

The Newtown man is accused of pleasuring himself in a parked car as he stared at women who were exercising along the same section of track in Belmont.

Mr Ames was refused bail at the Geelong Magistrates Court on Wednesday after police raised fears about the safety of females in the community.

Detective Senior Constable Daniel King said both alleged incidents occurred in the vicinity of the Shannon Avenue bridge, which passes over the Barwon River.

He told the court that a woman in her 40s was on a walking track beside the river when she allegedly spotted Mr Ames performing a lewd act inside a parked car about 8.30am on March 25.

It is alleged a similar incident took place in the same location on May 22, when a woman in her 30s was riding a bike along the track about 7.50am.

Constable King said the woman told police the male had the car window down and was staring at her as he “vigorously” moved his arm back and forth, but she did not see his genitalia.

While the first alleged victim could not identify Mr Ames from a photoboard, the second complainant selected the accused man, telling police: “Yeah … that’s him.”

Each of the alleged incidents took place within hundreds of metres of Mr Ames’s home, which he shared with his long-time partner.

He has been charged with multiple counts of directing sexual activity at another person.

The court heard that while Mr Ames denied any connection to the initial incident, he acknowledged being present at the scene in his car on the morning of May 22.

Constable King said Mr Ames had claimed to police that he was an artist and that he regularly sketched that section of the Barwon River.

He had argued that he was inside a car and sketching a tree on the back of a supermarket receipt when it is alleged he was performing a lewd act.

Constable King strongly opposed Mr Ames’s bid for bail on Wednesday, stating that he posed a “high risk” of sexual offending against “all” females.

“I find him an extremely unacceptable risk to the community,” Constable King said. “No bail conditions will satisfy me.”

Defence lawyer Amanda Hurst suggested a bail condition that would ban her client from attending the Barwon River.

But magistrate Ann McGarvie said she believed Mr Ames was a risk to the public and that a jail term was likely if he was found guilty of the charges. Mr Ames was refused bail and remanded in custody until August 4.