Locations
Leigh, Greater Manchester, WN7
Description
Daniel Molan, 51, exposed himself to teenage girls and masturbated in view of them but was given a suspended sentence and allowed to walk free from court (pictured outside Bolton Crown Court)
At Bolton Crown Court, he faced up to three years in jail under sentencing guidelines after he admitted three offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and two of outraging public decency, but was given 22 months jail suspended for a year.
His lawyer Paul Treble told the hearing: 'He has been open and honest with probation and psychological report. He has told me he deeply regrets what he did and is ashamed of it. As a result, probation have said that he is someone they were willing to work with.
'He is in full time employment and was described by his employer as having a good work ethic. Whilst I'm not negating the seriousness of the offence, the harm is relatively modest.'
The court heard Molan targeted his first victim aged 14 at 8am on a day in February 2022 as she was walking to her bus stop in Leigh.
Amanda Johnson, prosecuting, said: 'Whilst waiting for her bus, she noticed the defendant nearby. He was standing and looking at her rather than looking up the road for the bus. At the time although she noted the strangeness of his conduct, she thought little more about it.
'The defendant then exposed his penis to her. He stood staring at her with his penis exposed, trying to get her attention. Fortunately the bus arrived, and she quickly boarded. She did not report the matter at the time as she thought it was a one-off incident but she fell victim to the defendant a second time a week later.
'Again, she was at the same bus stop at around the same time. Again the defendant was there, wearing the same clothing. He again exposed his penis to her however on this occasion he began to masturbate in full view of her. The bus arrived and she got on. This time, on her arrival at school she informed a teacher of both incidents.
'In April, 2022, after the Easter holidays she was again at the bus stop... This time the defendant did not expose himself, but he was wearing the same clothing. She was afraid and decided to walk past him, filming him on her phone as she did so.
'The video was then provided to the police. She described how he had made her feel really uncomfortable and she was worried about where else the defendant may have behaved like this. She worried about younger children having seen him engaging in this conduct.'
Describing a later incident, Ms Johnson added: 'Two girls aged 14 were on the bus, going to school, having boarded at Leigh Bus Station. They were sitting on the back few rows.
'The defendant also boarded and made his way to the rear. He left two empty seats between himself and the girls. The girls were with their friend whose attention was first drawn to the defendant. He nudged her with his leg and she got up and moved away from him.
'One of the girls could feel that the defendant was staring at her. She turned to look at him and thought that he looked weird. It looked as though he was feeling pleasure. She turned back around and put her headphones in.
'One of the others also felt like she was being watched. She looked at the defendant who had a bag on his knee and he was staring at her legs. She then saw that he was masturbating and saw his exposed penis.
'She then called her mother to tell her what was happening. Her mother advised that she report it and one of the girls then went to tell the bus driver who stopped the bus and went to challenge the defendant. He removed him from the vehicle and then contacted the police.
'One of the girls described being "a bit freaked out" by what had happened, but said she was OK. One of the others was rather more affected and described feeling she judges all the men she meets. She worries on the bus when a man gets on behind her, that he will sit next to her.
'Police conducted enquiries and discovered a similar incident in March 2022 involving three schoolchildren at Leigh Bus Station with a similar description of the offender had been given and a PC viewed CCTV footage. The defendant was arrested and interviewed on 13 June 2022. He made no comment.'
The court heard Romanian-born Molan was of previous good character.
Sentencing the judge Mr Recorder Andrew McLoughlin told him: 'You have targeted school girls, one in particular was a victim on two separate occasions at the same bus stop near her school. Although she admits that she has the mental strength to not be too affected by the incident, others, unfortunately, have been impacted more.
'The reasons for why you undertook these offences are still unclear, especially considering your age and lack of previous convictions. It's clear that you need significant assistance with your criminal behaviour. I believe that you will benefit from this intervention from probation and am therefore convinced that I can suspend your sentence.'
Molan was also ordered to complete 40 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 120 hours of unpaid work. He will have to abide by the terms of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and sign the Sex Offender Register.
It comes as three women, who were flashed at by killer policeman Wayne Couzens days before he murdered Sarah Everard, warned that indecent exposure offences are not being treated seriously enough.
Earlier this month Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley called for a change to the law on flashing.
He argues that a football fan who streaks on a pitch should not be treated the same way as a sexual predator.
On average, women and girls are being subjected to more than 40 indecent exposure and voyeurism attacks every day.
However, data from the Ministry of Justice showed the number of people convicted of indecent exposure has collapsed in recent years, almost halving from 810 in 2016 to 435 in 2020.
Solicitor Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women's Justice, said police were not taking the offence seriously enough: 'This sort of offending can be an indicator of more serious, prolific and sometimes escalating sexual offending.'