Kenneth Wayne Weatherall pleads guilty to indecent exposure

An innocent sleepover turned into a night of horror for one girl when she woke up to see a perverted man standing over her and touching himself.

Kenneth Wayne Weatherall has been jailed for 18 months.

A young girl was exposed to a horrifying scene when she woke during a sleepover to find a man masturbating over her.

The man, Kenneth Wayne Weatherall, was revealed to be the pervert who committed the sexualised attack when a young girl was hosting a group of 12-year-old girls for a sleepover in late 2022.

On Thursday, the Toowoomba District Court heard the group of girls fell asleep on mattresses that were laid out in the lounge of a southwest Queensland home.

One of the girls woke to see Weatherall in the kitchen with his shirt off and penis in his hand.

Crown Prosecutor Nicole Friedewald told the court that Weatherall walked towards the girl, masturbated over her, telling her to remove her pants and touch herself.

Ms Friedewald said when Weatherall was confronted by another adult in the house he hid in the lounge and later claimed he was looking for an Xbox controller.

He then returned to the bedroom, packed his bag and left the house.

The court heard the police were called immediately and when officers attended Weatherall’s home a few hours later, he attempted to flee but was promptly arrested.

Ms Friedewald said he declined to co-operate with police and refused to participate in an interview.

Defence barrister Jens Striet told the court that his client suffered from a range of illnesses, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, cerebral palsy and schizophrenia, though he is currently un-medicated.

He added his client had a long history of drug use, though he was clean now and intended to live with his parents at Dirranbandi upon his release from custody.

Judge Paul Smith noted that the offending aggravated by Weatherall prior conviction for sexual assault, and that he was serving two suspended sentences at the time.

Weatherall pleaded guilty to one count of exposing a child under 16 to an indecent act and was sentenced to 18 months in jail.

He will be eligible for parole on August 28.

“It would have been very frightening for the girl,” Judge Power said.