Damon Young: Ex-Merimbula McDonald’s manager groped boy’s genitalia
A former south coast McDonald’s manager flirted with a teenage boy on Snapchat before squeezing his genitalia and repeatedly slapping his bottom leaving him in tears.
The South Coast News
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A former Merimbula McDonald’s manager, who is now a hospital volunteer, has been found guilty of groping a teenage boy’s genitalia in a carpark earlier this year.
Damon Young, 19, of Bega, was found guilty in Bega Local Court on Wednesday of two counts of sexually touching the boy in a car outside the restaurant in January, leaving his victim in tears.
Young, who is now working in IT and volunteering at the South East Regional Hospital, had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included forcibly squeezing the boy’s genitalia and repeatedly slapping his buttocks.
Magistrate Dick told the court the victim had told police he could not move or speak after the assaults, and that he had “no hesitation” in believing the evidence provided by the victim and an eyewitness.
The court heard Young had been flirting with the boy on Snapchat, and sent a message via the app saying “sorry” after the assaults.
The victim told the court he repeatedly told Young he did not consent to his advances.
CCTV footage of the offences showed Young approaching the car before moving to the passenger side where the boy was sitting and leaning into the open door, his feet lifting off the ground at one point.
“I may have touched his bottom … it was nothing sexual at all,” Young told the court during cross-examination.
An eyewitness, who was in the car at the time of the offences, told the court Young had walked over to the car before telling her he was going to “harass” the teen.
The court heard Young stroked the boy’s hair for a number of minutes before the assaults, and smiled as he left the vehicle to return to work.
The witness told the court she heard the slapping before telling Young to stop. She later gave the boy contact details for a sexual assault hotline, which he called later that night.
Young’s lawyer Tony Cullinan told the court it was “unsafe to convict” his client as the CCTV was “certainly not clear” and the offences could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
Magistrate Doug Dick sentenced Young to a three-year community corrections order and fined him $5000.
“I accept you are a young man that made a very serious mistake on the day,” Magistrate Dick told Young during sentencing.
Magistrate Dick also put in place a three-year apprehended violence order between Young and the victim.