Man leered at girls through coffee shop window

Welland resident still to be sentenced; followed two teens to local mall

A 22-year-old man found guilty of harassing two teenage girls in Welland will be sentenced in the fall.

Shane Green appeared in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Friday and pleaded guilty to charges of criminal harassment and failing to comply with a probation order.

He is expected to return to court Sept. 26.

Court was told that on June 29, two 13-year-old girls were at a Tim Hortons outlet in Welland when they realized a man was smiling at them through the glass window of the store.

At one point, the defendant entered the coffee shop and sat in the booth behind the girls. The duo felt uncomfortable and walked together to the Seaway Mall.

When the girls realized the man had followed them to the mall, they ran into a store and waited until they believed the coast was clear before returning to the coffee shop.

But they were followed by the defendant, who again sat directly behind them.

“He continued to stare and smile at them,” assistant Crown attorney Graeme Leach told the judge.

One of the teens noticed what appeared to be a gun in the waistband of the man’s pants.

The girls called police and Green was arrested without incident.

An investigation determined the weapon was a loaded BB gun and the defendant was also carrying “a bottle of ammunition.”

Court heard the man was on probation at the time of the incident and was not allowed to have any weapons in his possession.