By Craig Cooper, Editor How concerned should we be about a spate of offences being committed in Whangarei's public toilets? Last week, a former Whangarei teacher admitted exposing himself in a public toilet at Kensington Stadium. This week, another Whangarei man has admitted an offence in a public toilet. This time, the offence wasin a toilet near the Whangarei Visitor Information Centre. The latest offence is particularly galling for several reasons. Firstly, the offender has previously publicly stated "I'm no threat to anybody". When? While he was on bail, accused of having sex with an underage boy. At the time, his bail conditions included a clause that he not go within 100m of public toilets. After proclaiming his innocence in court, and in public, a jury found the man not guilty of the charge. One has to accept the not guilty verdict, after a robust criminal jury trial. But the man's "I'm no threat" claim rings particularly hollow given his latest misdemeanour. This man is a threat, and the worrying aspect is that fining him $700 may not be enough to keep him from pestering people in public toilets. What is worse is that the offence was in a facility used by tourists for legitimate reasons. There is no suggestion that the man's victim was a tourist, but the threat is there - Whangarei and Northland's tourism image is at risk. And of course, there is the potential psychological damage to the man's teenage victim, regardless of where he hails from. So again, how worried should we be that two men in two weeks have been sentenced for offences in public toilets. The encouraging aspect is that people are being caught. But that should not stop police or our local council from paying increased attention to these public facilities, to protect locals, tourists and our region's tourism image. Human beings have a right to go about their business without fear of being propositioned by lecherous pests.
