A Tauranga hairdresser hugged, kissed and played with the hair of a young girl he befriended at a suburban video store.
Matua man Andrew Timothy Wilson, 37, pleaded guilty to offensive behaviour and was fined $250 when he appeared in Tauranga District Court yesterday.
At 6pm on January 19, a 6-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother were in a video store in the Brookfield Shopping Centre when Wilson approached them in an area not visible to the front counter.
Over a period of about 10 minutes, he engaged the children in conversation, particularly the young girl.
Wilson began to play with the girl's hair, stroked her head and ran his fingers through her hair, then he crouched down with the children and for a period of about five minutes hugged and kissed the girl.
CCTV footage from the store was obtained and the store manager alerted police.
When police spoke to Wilson about the matter, he initially denied any physical contact with the children.
When confronted with the CCTV footage, Wilson admitted to police he had hugged and kissed the girl, but said he was only being friendly. He eventually admitted that his actions could be seen as inappropriate.
Wilson's lawyer Vicki Scott told Judge Paul Geoghegan that Wilson wanted her to stress to the court that there was nothing untoward intended in his actions and that he was merely concerned about the children's welfare.
She said Wilson had only approached the youngsters because of his concern about them being unsupervised and he wanted to make sure they made it home safely.
His lawyer said Wilson's touching of the little girl was because she had her hair all over her face and as a hairdresser he was helping to re-arrange her hair.
Mrs Scott said Wilson walked the children back home and knocked on the door and talked to their mother about his concerns.
Judge Geoghegan said he did not know what to make of this case.
"I really don't. But I need to take that into account that police have downgraded the charge. In this day and age this sort of behaviour would alarm anyone and cause them to become anxious about the possible motivation. But I think I can deal with you by way of a modest fine."
Wilson was originally charged with indecent assault.
Meanwhile, a Welcome Bay man who exposed himself to a woman sitting in bus shelter outside Tauranga Girls' College at about 7am on November 22 was sentenced to 100 hours' community work when he appeared in Tauranga District Court.
Laundry worker Timothy Craig Hogan, 28, who pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent exposure, was also ordered to pay $500 to his victim for emotional harm.
Judge Geoghegan said Hogan's behaviour had been outrageous. "I don't know whether alcohol was involved but rest assured if you come back again on a similar charge there will be much more serious consequences for you."
Stranger kisses 6-year-old girl
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