Jarmal David Richard fronts court on sexual assault, stalking, upskirting charges

A personal trainer has fronted court, accused of stalking and upskirting multiple women and filming them during workouts.

Jarmal Richard. Picture: Facebook

A personal trainer accused of stalking and upskirting multiple women, including videoing them during workouts has faced court in Geelong.

Jarmal David Richard, 54, of Winchelsea, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court this week facing 13 charges, including one count of sexual assault, eight counts of stalking and four counts of upskirting.

He is contesting the charges, with his lawyer arguing he has no case to answer.

The charges relate to eight different complainants and the photos and videos were taken at various locations, including a gym at his home and a cafe, throughout 2022, the court heard.

Some alleged victims knew the accused through a running club, the court was told, while five were clients of Mr Richard’s.

One woman was allegedly sexually assaulted when Mr Richard “brushed her vagina” during a massage.

The court heard that in some cases, police had identified hundreds of photographs relating to some of the alleged victims, but not all of them were inappropriate.

Mr Richard jotted down notes throughout the hearing, which began last week and is set to continue on Tuesday.

Acting Sergeant Emmaline McKinnon, the informant in the matter, testified about the investigation and arrest of Mr Richard, as well as evidence allegedly found on his phone.

The court heard that Mr Richard was arrested on June 8, during a raid on his Winchelsea home, following an incident at a shopping centre in Waurn Ponds on May 22, 2022.

The court heard one alleged victim had previously come forward in January 2022, but the matter resulted in a statement of no complaint.

The victim later reached out to police again, with both she and her partner providing statements.

Videos played in court allegedly taken from Mr Richard’s phone showed women working out.

In many of them, the camera was focused on their buttocks and genital area.

In some cases, Mr Richard was having a conversation with the alleged victim, who appeared to be unaware they were being filmed, and in one video he was chuckling.

On Tuesday, Mr Richard’s lawyer, Penny Marcou, told the court the prosecution couldn’t prove Richard had a “sexual interest” in the women based on the photos, and that lumping each individual case together resulted in prejudice.

Ms Marcou asserted that the women could “reasonably” expect to be filmed and had “dressed in a particular way”, submitting her client had no case to prove in relation to some of the charges.

“When a person goes to the gym, there’s video recordings everywhere … it is reasonable to expect they will be visually captured,” Ms Marcou said.

“The context of the gym … changes the whole factual matrix … the position of where the camera is has no relevance.”

However, prosecutor Matthew Fisher disputed this, telling the court that whether or not the clients were wearing “short, skimpy, tight or even revealing” clothing when exercising, it’s no defence to the charge.

“(The charge is) using that device, the mobile phone, put in a particular position where he can capture particular parts (of the complainant),” Mr Fisher said.

“They are not circumstances that would be reasonable … for their genital or anal region to be captured in that way.”

The hearing continues.

Originally published as Jarmal David Richard fronts court on sexual assault, stalking, upskirting charges