A Wollongong disability pensioner who repeatedly stripped naked inside his apartment and flashed his erect penis at young female neighbours told police it aroused him to know he was being watched.
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John Leonard Eves, 52, admitted exposing himself to the women on at least two different occasions, including Christmas Day last year when one of the girls was home with her mother.
On some occasions when it was dark, Eves would pull out a torch and perform a quasi light show for them, shining the torch over his body and at times focusing its beam on his penis.
When arrested in early January, Eves told police he knew the women were watching him and he was “getting off on it”.
Eves was charged with three counts each of committing an act of indecency and obscene exposure and had been due to face a hearing in Wollongong Local Court on Friday.
However, his lawyers reached a last-minute plea deal with prosecutors that saw them drop the exposure charges in exchange for a guilty plea to the indecent act charges.
Documents tendered to the court said the victims had been living in their unit less than a month when they noticed Eves watching them from inside his apartment as they cooked an evening barbecue on the balcony with friends.
They said after about 90 minutes Eves pulled back the curtain in his bathroom, turned the light on, removed his clothing and began touching himself in full view of the women.
The women moved inside and closed all their curtains.
When one of them peeked through the curtains a short time later, they saw Eves had turned off the bathroom light and picked up a torch, which he was pointing towards their window while flicking it on and off in a bid to get their attention.
Still naked and with his erect penis still front and centre, Eves began shining the torch over his body, at times spotlighting his penis.
He repeated the same actions as one of the visitors walked to her car later that night to leave.
The next incident occurred in the early hours of Christmas morning as one of the women was making herself something to eat in the kitchen.
She told police she didn’t turn her kitchen roof light on, fearing she’d attract Eves’ attention, and instead only used the small light attached to the range hood.
However, Eves noticed her presence and began flicking his bathroom light on and off, in another attention-seeking move.
The victim said she looked through the curtain to see Eves standing inside his bathroom completely naked, with the curtains drawn back, touching his penis.
The woman woke her mother, who was staying the night, and told her what was happening.
The pair both witnessed Eves flashing the bathroom light on and off, before he made a hand gesture towards the victim indicating he wanted her to open the curtains and come closer.
Police arrested Eves on January 15. He confessed to exposing himself to the women in his police interview, and while he did admit he’d done it for sexual arousal, he said he was sorry for his behaviour.
Meantime, the women told police they had been living in fear since the incidents occurred and had been forced to install shade cloth and bamboo fencing on the balcony and windows in order to stop Eves from being able to see them.
Eves will face court on December 6 for sentencing.
