A convicted sex pervert has been charged with larceny after he was busted stealing male libido drugs from a Wollongong chemist.
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Documents tendered to Wollongong Local Court on Friday said CCTV captured John Elliott, 50, entering Chemist Warehouse on Crown Street on Thursday morning and placing a number of items in an orange bag, before he is seen to pick up a box of Caruso's Erectomax Male Sexual Function tablets.
Elliott walked into another aisle where it alleged he took the blister packs containing the tablets out of the box and placed them in his pocket. He then put the empty box back on the shelf and proceeded to the check out, where he paid for the items in the orange bag and left the store.
Police allege he did not pay for the tablets in his pocket, which the court heard were valued at $75.
A staff member located the empty box a short time later and had a security guard review the CCTV. The guard contacted police, who allegedly recognised Elliott from the footage.
Officers attended his home that afternoon. He was arrested and remanded in custody overnight.
In court on Friday, police prosecutor Sergeant Cody Davis opposed Elliott's release on bail, noting he was already on bail for alleged intimidation of a neighbour last August.
She said Elliott had prior convictions for indecent assault, public masturbation and intimidation on his record and suggested the alleged theft of sexual libido tablets was "highly relevant" to whether he posed a risk to public safety.
However, Magistrate Claire Girotto said the issue at law was whether Elliott stole the item, not what it was.
"It would be contrary to law to punish him for what he stole rather than the stealing itself, because of his record," she said.
"These goods are available to anyone who goes into a chemist to buy them, it's the fact he failed to pay for them that's the issue."
She agreed to grant Elliott strict conditional bail, saying he was unlikely to receive a custodial sentence if convicted of the crime.
The case will return to court next month.
During the proceedings, Elliottt confirmed he had been banned from entering any Chemist Warehouse shop for the next five years.
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