Exhibitionist gets 14-month jail term

It wasn’t the masturbation alone that was the problem for Gregory Avison. It was that when he did it, he didn’t care if people were watching.

It was a predilection that led to Gregory Bryan Avison, 37, being sentenced to 14 months in jail when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, on four charges of doing an indecent act with intent to insult, and two of doing an indecent act in a public place.

Avison had been found guilty by a jury in October of those six charges, laid by the police in response to a series of incidents that stretched from June 2015 to early January 2017, and happened at places in Hamilton.

The first of these places was in a block of flats in a street in Claudelands, where Avison was living with his partner. On numerous occasions, he was seen by his neighbours completely naked, standing and sitting on the balcony outside the back of his flat. Once, while smoking a cigarette while disrobed, he engaged one of his female neighbours in conversation and, to her dismay, began touching his penis as he did so.

It didn’t stop there. That same neighbour and one of her friends were returning home about 8.30pm on September 15 that year when they encountered Avison standing on the footpath near the flats’ letterboxes. He was again sans clothing and, as they turned into the driveway, he began masturbating once again.

The two women drove down the driveway to the flats, only to find Avison had followed them and was watching them as they got out of the vehicle and entered the neighbour’s flat.

Another incident happened sometime between November 1 and December 20. This time the victim was a 17-year-old male who lived nearby. At the time, the teenager was feeling unwell, so he pushed open a window and put his head out, in order to get some fresh air.

As well as the fresh air, the teenager was confronted by the sight of a totally nude Avison, who was again masturbating – an activity he continued for the next five minutes.

Avison was also seen naked and masturbating by a 15-year-old female who also lived nearby. He would wait outside each day until she left for school and, as she walked past, he would go inside the flat and watch her through the curtains. This happened several times, with the victim saying she saw him in such circumstances every day she went to school one week.

However, on November 23 she was quick enough to take a photograph of Avison in flagrante –an image that ended up being used as evidence during the trial. By December 22, 2016, Avison had been charged and bailed to an address in Fairfield. But while his circumstances had changed, his offending and modus operandi had not.

At 11pm that night, he was seen by two neighbours walking out to the wooden deck at the front of the property in – as the police summary of evidence put it – ‘‘a fully naked state’’. Illuminated by the street lights and in full view of surrounding houses and anyone passing by on the road, the neighbours watched as Avison masturbated for the following half hour.

The final victim was a 16-yearold male who happened to be walking by at 2.30pm on Tuesday, January 3. Yet again, Avison was totally unclad and masturbating in the front doorway. Avison realised he was being observed and slowly moved back behind the door.

In court on Tuesday, Avison’s counsel Rob Weir presented a letter his client had written, in which he apologised to his victims. Avison also had the support of an employer, who held him in high regard.

Judge Kim Saunders had several factors to consider when sentencing, not least of which was a prior conviction for sexual offending in 2005, for which Avison had been jailed for five years. A pre-sentence report had found him to have a sense of entitlement and he had been assessed as being at medium risk of reoffending, and low risk of harm to others.

‘‘The offending was premeditated ... and showed indifference whether or not you were seen by members of the public.’’

The victims ‘‘took it in their stride … with the exception of the teenaged girl who was so worried her family did not believe her she had to take the photo’’.

Judge Saunders took a starting point of 15 months in jail, giving an increase to account for his offending while on bail and his previous convictions, before rounding it down on the basis of totality to a final sentence of 14 months.

Avison has been in custody since February, and is thus immediately eligible for release on the basis of time served.

"The offending was pre-meditated … and showed indifference whether or not you were seen by members of the public."

Judge Kim Saunders