Public masturbator Steven Burgess pleads guilty to directing sexual activity

A prolific public masturbator was already awaiting sentencing when he exposed himself in shopping centres across the Geelong region, a court has heard.

Steven Burgess. Picture: Facebook

A prolific public masturbator has been warned he’ll be locked up if he doesn’t stop after disgusting displays at major stores including Target, Kmart, Kaisercraft and Cotton On across Geelong and the Surf Coast.

Steven Mark Burgess, 33, fronted the Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday, facing a litany of charges including numerous counts of sexual activity directed at another person.

The Newcomb man had already pleaded guilty to several offences, but on Monday pleaded guilty to charges on a new matter.

The court heard Burgess, who has a mild intellectual disability, was already facing a deferred sentence when some new offending occurred.

On August 5 last year, Burgess was in Kaisercraft in Newcomb when he pulled down his pants, exposing his penis, and began masturbating.

A few months later in November, Burgess masturbated in Target in Westfield.

A 16-year-old female store worker was unaware of Burgess watching her during the incident – but the incident was captured on CCTV.

Last month, Burgess masturbated in Cotton On in Corio Village on February 2.

The court heard he was in a changeroom and opened the door to a staff member, while naked from the waist down and masturbating.

The victim felt “disgusted” the court heard.

On February 9, Burgess masturbated in Kaisercraft in Torquay, a day later he masturbated in the toy section of Target in Waurn Ponds.

During that incident, the court heard Burgess apologised multiple times to a worker.

Court documents reveal Burgess also offended in a similar manner in Kmart, Belmont in February last year, in Adairs in July, in October at Bonds, Leopold, among other offences dating back to 2022.

According to the documents, Burgess told police he does this because he was “looking for love and wants someone to be around him”.

Magistrate Franz Holzer had a number of concerns regarding Burgess’ repeat offending, and said Burgess’ behaviour was “unacceptable” and the “distress of the complainants is natural and understandable”.

He said Burgess obviously had a “lack of control” or filter, that meant he found it impossible to stop this behaviour.

Burgess’ lawyer, Sarah Wood, told the court Burgess was engaging with a mental health case manager and was also scheduled to have a physical assessment, including a brain scan and blood tests, which would determine if a brain injury was influencing his behaviour.

“If there’s not a physical issue, if this is mental illness related, they’d be looking at medication,” Ms Wood said.

Ms Wood said it was conceded Burgess displayed “concerning behaviour” that was unacceptable, but said there were services in place that should provide the court with reassurance.

The court heard Burgess presently had a support worker by his side 20 hours a day.

Mr Holzer said he would like to know more before making a decision on what sentence to impose.

He adjourned the matter until March 31 and told Burgess: “The behaviours that you continue to engage in are upsetting to people and are troubling to people”.

“You’ve got to understand that if there are any further behaviours … I will lock you up.,” Mr Holzer said.

Originally published as Public masturbator Steven Burgess pleads guilty to directing sexual activity