A Woonona man caught masturbating in the Wollongong Central shopping centre earlier this month has been sent to jail for two weeks.
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Wollongong Local Court was told it was not the first time 31-year-old Kyren Butt had been busted for exposing himself in public, having been convicted for obscene exposure at least one before, in 2012.
Police documents tendered to the court upon Butt’s guilty plea said security staff were monitoring the centre’s CCTV cameras when they noticed Butt walk into the western entrance of the centre just before 10pm on Tuesday, March 14, and pull down his pants.
Staff immediately phoned police for assistance.
Officers who arrived on the scene a short time later confirmed they could see Butt masturbating. Upon seeing the police, Butt tried to pull his pants up but was only partially successful, officers said.
When asked what he was doing, Butt replied “nothing” and denied that his pants were down.
However, when asked to stand up, police said Butt’s buttocks were clearly exposed.
He was arrested and charged with obscene exposure. Police released him on bail the following afternoon on the condition he not enter the shopping centre.
However, less than two hours later he was caught shoplifting $94.90 worth of grocery items from the Coles supermarket within the centre.
In court on Friday, Magistrate Brett Thomas sentenced Butt to two weeks behind bars, beginning from March 16 when he was first brought into custody.
He will be released on March 29.