Michael Pearce: Shocking footage as man caught molesting girl in Illawarra arcade
A NSW Mid North Coast sex offender has been locked up after molesting a teenage girl in an Illawarra arcade earlier this year. Watch the chilling CCTV footage as he makes his move. GRAPHIC WARNING.
Illawarra Star
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Horrifying footage of a man for the NSW Mid North Coast molesting a teenage girl in a busy Illawarra shopping centre has been aired in court.
Taree‘s Michael Pearce appeared via video link from Long Bay prison in Wollongong Local Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to two counts of intentionally sexually touching a child between the ages of 10 and 16 as well as resisting an officer while in the execution of their duty.
The chilling incident occurred in front of numerous bystanders at the Funland arcade in Wollongong Central on a Sunday afternoon in April this year.
Pearce, who was already on the child protection register, approached a curtained-off arcade machine which the girl was playing on before ducking under the curtain and molesting her.
Documents tendered in court revealed Pearce, 37, touched the girl’s upper thigh near her groin before cupping her breast on top of her t-shirt with CCTV vision showing the frightening event played out over 25 seconds.
Pearce nonchalantly walked off after his vile actions as two witnesses rushed to check on the victim’s welfare with the girl found crying and shaking.
The girl immediately called her mother who told her to take a photo of the offender and contact police.
One of the girl’s friends alerted the shopping centre’s security who tipped off police who found Pearce outside on Crown St.
Pearce told police he was “going” as they attempted to arrest him, however, he resisted and yelled ”F*** you, you dogs. I’ve done nothing wrong you dogs” before he was eventually restrained.
While trawling through security footage, officers noticed Pearce had disturbed three other unknown women in the nearby food court around the same time as the incident.
Court documents stated that the footage, which wasn’t shown in court, showed Pearce approaching the woman and speaking to them while touching their shoulder or hands.
In court on Wednesday, Legal Aid lawyer Laura Fennell highlighted Pearce suffers from an “extremely low range intellectual disability” with an assessment indicating he has an IQ of 51.
Ms Fennell described Pearce as being “impulsive” and having a ”lack of control” which had been linked to him “probably suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome” which is a condition in a child that results from alcohol exposure during the mother’s pregnancy.
Magistrate Robert Walker labelled the crime as “very serious” and “totally unacceptable behaviour” before sentencing Pearce to 18-month jail with a non-parole period of six months.
Pearce has been in custody for three months and a half months, meaning he will be eligible for parole on October 23.
For 24-hour sexual violence support call the national hotline 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or MensLine on 1800 600 636.
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