A Dunedin woman says she feels scared, powerless and angry after being indecently assaulted in daylight on the university campus.
Max Christopher Garden, 27, smiled as he was sentenced to 220 hours’ community work and 12 months’ intensive supervision in the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
In an interview with police after the incident, Garden said: "it can’t be the crime of the century, is it?".
On December 1, Garden sat under a tree outside the Unipol gym for about half an hour, as he claimed he was "deciding what to have for dinner".
CCTV footage captured him sitting on a bench before leaving the area when two women walked past him.
He followed the women "quite closely" before returning to the same bench on the university campus, the court heard.
At 4.55pm a woman wearing headphones walked past the defendant on her way home from the gym.
Garden got up from the bench a second time and began walking behind her in Union St.
Footage from multiple buildings pieced together the path the pair took, as the defendant followed close behind the woman.
No cameras captured what happened next, but the jury heard Garden quickly overtook the woman, simultaneously "grabbing" her bottom.
"I felt a whole hand on my butt. I thought it was my boyfriend at the time ... but I knew he was at the library," the woman said.
"No-one else would grab me like that."
The woman took out her phone and filmed the man quickly walking away.
She called out to him, "what did you just do?", but the man continued walking.
"I tried to call out to him and got no response, so I became quite upset."
The victim provided a statement to the court, outlining how distressing the assault was.
She no longer felt safe and was left constantly looking over her shoulder.
She felt "particularly violated" as the attack took place in daylight.
"Some men cannot control themselves even if it means traumatising young women."
Judge David Robinson said it was serious offending.
"Women are objectified and they are vulnerable to this sort of thing.
"We need to protect women’s autonomy.
"They should be unhindered by the fear of someone coming along and grabbing their butt."
Garden showed no remorse for the premeditated attack, the court heard.
When asked why he was lingering around the area, he said: "it’s a free country".
Crown prosecutor Craig Power said Garden was unmotivated and showed poor prospects for rehabilitation.
"My plea to you is to take advantage of this sentence.
"This can’t happen again."
