Maxwell Cook’s alleged obsession with schoolgirl leads him to defecate in family yard
Police allege a former school groundsman relieved himself in a young girl’s backyard on a number of occasions because of his ‘infatuation’ with her best friend.
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A former school groundsman has been charged after he allegedly became obsessed with a young student and defecated in the backyard of her best friend’s family home on several occasions.
Dapto’s Maxwell Cook, 33, was arrested on Sunday evening, after he was allegedly caught on CCTV defecating in the backyard of a Tullimbar family home, with police linking the act to an alleged “infatuation” with another young girl.
Cook was charged with four counts of unlawful entry on inclosed lands, stalk intimidate with intent to cause fear or physical harm and one count of break and enter with intent to commit serious indictable offence, and appeared in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday, where Magistrate Jillian Kiely refused his application for bail.
The court heard Cook, who used to be a groundsman at a local primary school, was convicted in 2017 of trespass, after he entered the school without permission to set-up a “birthday surprise” for a student he had a “fascination” with, leaving her a red rose, balloons and a message on the whiteboard.
An apprehended violence order was put in place for the protection of the girl, however has since expired.
In documents tendered to the court on Wednesday, police allege Cook is still fascinated with the girl, and for his own “sexual excitement” defecated in her young best friend’s backyard.
Police allege on at least four occasions between September last year and this month, the family noticed human faeces in their backyard, often on a Sunday morning.
Out of fear, the family installed CCTV cameras in the yard to try and identify the person.
In documents tendered to the court, police allege the owner of the home spotted a man in his yard around 8.20pm on Sunday, and alerted police.
While patrolling the area, police allege they spotted Cook one street over, noting he was “sweaty and out of breath”. He was arrested.
In the documents, police say he made full admissions in a police interview to defecating in the family’s yard, saying he exercised in the area, and the backyard was a good place to relieve himself because it was “dark”.
Police suggested to Cook it was for more sinister reasons, however, he allegedly denied having an infatuation with the girl’s friend.
While Cook was in custody, police searched his phone, which allegedly had a collage of photos of the young girl as his background. They also found a false Instagram account on his phone, where he had allegedly posed as another young girl. Recent search history allegedly showed he had been searching the girl’s family member’s, as well as her best friend.
In a second interview, police allege in court documents he admitted to stalking the girl, and had an obsession with her, allegedly saying“I have a fascination with her, I wish I didn’t.”
Police also obtained fingerprints from Cook during his arrest, which allegedly linked him to a break and enter in the Tullimbar region in 2018.
In court documents, police allege a former teacher at the girl’s school reported a break and enter in September 2018, after she went away for the weekend.
Police allege windows had been smashed to gain entry into the property, however nothing was stolen. At the time, the former teacher allegedly told police she had noticed underwear had gone missing from her clothesline on several occasions.
While Cook’s defence lawyer Graeme Morrison argued his client had a very limited history, Magistrate Kiely said his alleged behaviour “had escalated to a significant degree” and refused the application.
He will return to court in two weeks.