GROPER’S NINE-YEAR CAMPAIGN OF SHAME
‘DANGEROUS’ PERVERT JAILED AFTER ADMITTING ASSAULTING PASSERS-BY IN THE STREET FOR NEARLY A DECADE
A “DANGEROUS” pervert who admitted he had been groping women in the street for almost a decade has been jailed.
Mark Maxwell got sexual gratification from the assaults, which took place in Penarth where he lived, and he admitted to police he had been committing similar assaults for nine years.
The 27-year-old was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault at an earlier hearing.
Prosecutor Thomas Roberts told the court the first assault took place in Plassey Street, Penarth, on February 14 this year.
He said: “The complainant was walking along the street and the defendant was walking ahead of her but towards her on the opposite side of the road.
“He crossed the road in front of her and carried on walking towards her. As he approached he made eye contact with her which made her feel uncomfortable and she looked away.
“As their paths crossed he reached out and touched her on the right thigh and squeezed her right buttock.
“This caused the complainant to freeze in shock as he walked away.”
Maxwell was identified by officers from CCTV and he was arrested but he gave no comment in an interview with police. He was on bail when he committed his second offence.
Mr Roberts said: “On April 26 the complainant was out running in the vicinity of the Cardiff Bay Barrage in Penarth. The defendant was walking in the company of another man.
“As their paths crossed, the defendant smiled and grabbed her bottom. She shouted at him before running home and reporting the matter to police.”
Maxwell was again identified by CCTV and fully admitted the offences as well as admitting he had carried out similar assaults over the course of nine years.
The first complainant made a victim impact statement in which she described the effect the assault had had upon her.
She said the attack had made her feel vulnerable and she now avoided walking around outside at night and she no longer felt safe in Penarth.
She said she reported the matter to police because, as a woman, she had “the right to walk the street without fear” and women should be “respected in society”.
Defence barrister Sue Ferrier described her client as falling in the autistic spectrum and as someone who “struggled in the community”.
She said: “There is on his part a lack of understanding and appreciation.
“He says when he does it he feels sorry afterwards for what he has done and he appreciates it’s wrong.
“Perhaps the problem he has is forming adult relationships and this causes him frustration.”
The court heard that Maxwell had numerous previous offences for sexual assault and had been made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Sentencing, Judge Stephen Hopkins QC said: “You say you had ‘misread signals’ and felt the victims were interested in you sexually and would not mind you touching them. You showed no remorse whatsoever.”
The judge added: “My test as a judge is to do the right thing by the defendant but more importantly to protect the public – in particular the female population of Penarth who seem to be at real risk of your behaviour.
“You are a dangerous young man. You target lone females as your habit and targeted them in the day and night.
“At the least the ladies and girls of Penarth will be safe from your predatory behaviour.”
Maxwell, of Mountjoy Crescent, Penarth, was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and was made subject to the sexual offenders’ register indefinitely.