Bradley Watson, 44, withdraws bail bid after being jailed for stalking and sexually harassing teenage girls

A vile Goulburn Valley netball coach has been exposed for stalking teenage girls for years, harassing them with “sleazy” messages and sexual pictures from fake accounts.

Bradley Watson stalked and sexually harrassed teenage girls in his community for years. Picture: D-Keine.

A vile Goulburn Valley netball stalked teenage girls and harassed them with “sleazy” messages and sexually explicit pictures from fake accounts.

Bradley Watson, 44, formally withdrew his bail application at Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday ahead of a flagged sentence appeal after he was jailed for six months for stalking and sexually harassing multiple teenage girls, leaving them terrified.

Watson was until recently a prominent and respected member of the small Goulburn Valley town where he lives, running a small business with his parents.

Bradely Watson’s stalking left his victim’s terrifed. Picture: Tinnakorn Jorruang.

Between 2015 and 2021, Watson was a volunteer coach at the local football and netball club, during which time he stalked and sexually harassed five teenage girls.

But that all changed after Watson pleaded guilty to a slew of stalking and sex offence charges after he was busted creating multiple fake social media profiles to harass the teenage girls for months at a time.

Watson took pictures of the girls at the local sporting club and social events, sending them to the teenagers via fake social media profiles, describing the girls’ family homes, documents tendered to the court revealed.

He would take pictures of the girls at local sporting events and send them to his victims, commenting on what they were wearing.

It was revealed Watson was trying to groom them to send him sexual images and sexual acts, asking one teen to meet him in a public toilet.

Watson sent to one teenage girl in May 2021 a “sleazy and creepy” message while at the local sporting and social event saying she “looked hot in her white jeans and G-string”.

In April 2021 he contacted another teen girl from a fake account saying he was a married man who wanted to “spoil young girls”.

Watson continued to harass the teenager for most of 2021, telling her he was “her secret admirer” and “he had seen her sexy a--e around and its so hot”, telling her he “hoped he dreamt about her”.

Watoson sent pictures of his penis on “numerous occasions” to the teenage girl on Instagram, telling her he had been to her family home. He also sent her two videos of himself masturbating on Snapchat.

The girl became scared after he told her from the anonymous account he had spoken to her in Echuca when she was with her dad, telling her he knew where she lived.

Watson’s victim’s told the court they were left traumatised by his vile harrassment.

Watson targeted another teenage girl with his fake profiles, describing the house she lived in and her current whereabouts, sending her pictures of himself from the local football club locker room.

Watson was undone after sending a picture of his horse tattoo on his back to one of the victims, which police were able to use to identify him.

On January 12, 2023 police raided Watson’s house and seized electronic devices. He was arrested and taken to Bendigo police station for being charged and bailed.

When police confronted him with the allegations of stalking and grooming the teens Watson mostly responded with “no comment”.

The victims said in statements to the court that Watson’s campaign for sexual gratification had left them terrified and traumatised.

Watson made a bid for bail minutes after he was taken into custody.

One of his victims said it made her “skin crawl” that a person she “trusted” could hurt her in such a sick way

“(A man) who cooked snags on the barbecue at … events … I feel like I could throw up,” she said.

She said she was scared he would “take” her after she refused to send him nudes or meet him in a public toilet block.

The victims’ parents said they were fearful while Watson was on bail as their children left the house for work and school, and angry that he was allowed out while they had to avoid him.

One victim’s mother said she felt “helpless to stop the harassment”.

After Magistrate Dominic Lennon convicted and locked up Watson on Tuesday, placing him on the sex offender’s registry for 15 years, the accused filed a bail application just minutes after being taken into custody with the intention of appealing his jail sentence.

But in court today, Watson formally withdrew the bail application.

His lawyer asked the court to flag with the jail that Watson was experiencing “severe depression and anxiety and at risk of self-harm”.