Edward James Anthes may have struck before, court hears
An elderly sleaze freaked out a 15-year-old girl when he tried to chat her up at a Mariners game. Now disturbing new details have emerged about another alleged incident.
Central Coast
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A 15-year-old girl has been left anxious and “suspicious” of old people after a man, 84, told her she had a “nice butt” and tried to chat her up at a Mariners game.
Edward James Anthes, of Ocean View Rd, Gorokan, was charged with intentionally sexually touching a child and a separate offence of doing a sex act towards a child following the incident on December 23 last year.
However the sexual touching charge was withdrawn and he pleaded guilty to intentionally doing a sexual act towards a child.
It comes as damning new evidence was tendered by the prosecution that a man fitting his description exposed himself to another woman five years ago but the matter was never further pursued.
The police prosecution successfully made an application to provide tendency evidence in the form of a witness statement from another woman, 35, who spoke to officers in August 2013.
It followed an incident she had with a man that police would have alleged, if the matter went to a hearing, was Anthes.
In her statement she told police she was attending a doctors appointment in August 2013 at Gosford and while she was waiting for a patient transport vehicle to take her back to Brisbane Waters Private Hospital an elderly man 165cm tall, clean shaven who “looked like a kind grandpa” started talking to her.
From the conversation she gleaned he lived at Gorokan and was a Mariners fan.
After she told him she worked in aged care, he asked if she was ever asked to give blow jobs at work “and if I was good at giving blow jobs”.
“I panicked and froze as he flopped himself out in front of me” the statement said.
“I did not know what to (do) next.”
After her lift arrived he fixed himself up.
The matter was never pursued further and no one was charged.
However an agreed set of facts tendered to Gosford Local Court reveal Anthes was a season ticketholder at a Mariners game on December 23 last year.
The facts state the young victim arrived with her parents who were seated in the western grandstand but went to sit with a friend in the eastern grandstand in front of Anthes.
At 5.36pm the Mariners scored a goal and he turned to her and said words to the effect “you’ve got a nice butt”.
“The victim felt extremely uncomfortable and was unsure how to deal with the situation,” the facts read.
He then said “sorry, I should have taken you to dinner first”.
Anthes then started asking inappropriate questions such as what colour were her eyes and whether she would like to go out on a date with him.
At half time she ran to her parents and told police.
Anthes was ejected from the stadium and his member’s card seized.
In her victim impact statement the teenager said the incident had deeply affected her and ruined her trust in older people.
“It was a real shock as I thought any old person would always have good intentions. I now feel untrusting of old people, especially men,” she wrote.
“It’s changed my way of thinking and social life. For example, at my work, when an old man tries to make conversation with me, I get anxiety and I am suspicious about their intentions. “The experience has affected me that much that I try to stay away from old men even if they try to talk to me. Before this incident, I loved to have a conversation with an old person.
“From this matter I have had to have counselling in order to cope.”
She went on to say she had to leave the classroom whenever a topic of inappropriate behaviour came up.
“This experience has made me feel so ashamed and hurt by his actions. I now find it hard to accept compliments, especially from old men,” her statement said.
The court heard he was on a good behaviour bond at the time for breaching a personal violence order.
Anthes was convicted and put on a community corrections order with supervision for two years.