A Woonona man allegedly caught masturbating inside a northern Illawarra clothing shop has prior convictions for indecent exposure, a court has heard.
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Police claim John Miller Elliott, 47, entered the clothing boutique on the afternoon of May 29 and approached the front counter where the shop assistant was steam ironing clothes.
The woman, who recognised Elliott, said he was carrying a small jewellery box containing earrings at the time and began telling her he was engaged to be married to his girlfriend "Michelle".
The woman told Elliott to leave the store, however he allegedly continued talking about his upcoming wedding and ignored her repeated requests for him to go.
He opened the jewellery box and began touching the earrings with one hand, while allegedly putting the other hand down his shorts and moving his hand.
The victim told him to leave the store immediately, allegedly prompting him to remove the hand from his shorts. The victim told police she saw a wet patch on his shorts near his genital region and believed he had been masturbating.
Elliott walked out of the shop and was last seen heading towards the train station.
He was arrested last week and charged with carrying out a sexual act with another person without consent.
He was remanded in custody to front court, where he was granted strict conditional bail by Magistrate Roger Clisdell.
Court documents said Elliott had prior convictions for performing sex acts in public and had admitted to regularly approaching random people and divulging details of his personal life.
As part of his bail, Elliott is banned from loitering near schools and must report to police daily. He will return to court in July.