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A magistrate granted bail again to a Warrnambool man already on bail for an alleged sex assault who has now been charged with stalking after following three teenage girls.
Ian Cooper, 34, of Ocean Grove, applied for bail in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday after handing himself in to police last Friday and being remanded in custody during the weekend.
Magistrate Mark Stratmann warned Mr Cooper there were investigative issues which could change the situation.
Mr Cooper was released on bail until April 12 next year.
The main condition of his bail is that Mr Cooper comply with all the orders of his community treatment order, including that he attend a psychiatric review on Tuesday in Warrnambool.
He has to provide a letter to the court that he has attended the review.
The magistrate said Mr Cooper faced serious charges, but they were only allegations at present.
Mr Stratmann warned Mr Cooper to not breach his bail again.
"You don't want to be back before me again. People placed on remand stay there for some time," he said.
"You are skating on thin ice."
At 1.30pm:
Police have raised grave concerns about a Warrnambool man's behaviour who is already on bail for an alleged sexual assault.
Ian Cooper, 34, of Ocean Grove, applied for bail in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Monday after handing himself in to police last Friday.
Detective Senior Constable Tim McHutchison, of the Warrnambool police sex offences and child abuse investigation team, said police opposed bail in part due to Mr Cooper's extensive criminal history.
He said the accused had previously been charged five times with serious offences while on bail and had been charged seven times with failing to answer bail.
The investigator said the alleged victims were all fearful, vulnerable and had suffered great distress and anxiety.
He said there were safety concerns and a recent escalation in alleged offending which had sexual connotations..
Detective Senior Constable McHutchison said community members had a right to feel safe and Mr Cooper's alleged offending had progressed to touching and physical contact.
Police are still in the process of gaining security camera footage from four sources.
Police prosecutor Senior Constable Kevin Mullins said the alleged offending was of great concern and Mr Cooper was already on bail in relation to two fairly strong charges - sexual assault and stalking.
He said Mr Cooper was now allegedly indiscriminately targeting younger females.
The prosecutor said police were concerned about what was going on behind the aberrant behaviour in a psychological and psychiatric sense and why Mr Cooper did not realise his alleged behaviour was not only criminal but also grossly inappropriate.
He said police had concerns for the physical and mental well being of female community members if subjected to Mr Cooper's ongoing behaviour.
Lawyer Jess Dean said Mr Cooper had an acquired brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder and suffered paranoid schizophrenia.
She said her client's medication was being reviewed after he had been in a community treatment order for about a month.
Ms Dean said evidence had been led in relation to a number of incidents which had not led to any charge and no one should remain in custody for making anyone feel uncomfortable.
However, she said Mr Cooper's behaviour was absolutely concerning and young girls should be able to go shopping and feel safe.
The lawyer said her client denied touching any of the girls, he went to Gateway Plaza to get his medication and attend a supermarket there as he was banned from Coles in the CBD.
She said substantial evidence needed to be produced for a stalking charged to be proven.
Ms Dean said her client would be willing to stay five metres away from any women.
Magistrate Mark Stratmann has raised questions about Mr Cooper's 22 pages of prior court appearances, specifically in relation to a previous kidnapping charge.
Earlier: A 34-year-old man will appear in court after being charged with terrifying three young teen girls when he followed them around Warrnambool for two hours last week.
The accused man handed himself in to police of Friday and is already on bail charged with stalking and sex assault.
Those charges related to incidents earlier this month when he allegedly followed a female in Warrnambool and tapped her on the backside.
He also allegedly harassed an 18-year-old worker, who he told he would take out on a date, and said he wouldn't take no for an answer.
The man was charged and then released on bail earlier this month to appear in Warrnambool Magistrates Court in April next year.
Police now say that mid this month the man was seen by an off-duty police officer walking with a woman with a pram and a dog.
The officer approached the man who said he was out walking with his partner.
The woman said she had never seen the man before and she walked off while the off-duty police officer engaged the man in conversation.
Two days later the man made teenage girls at Lake Pertobe uncomfortable when he kicked a football towards them and tried to engage them in a conversation.
Last Thursday about 2pm a 13-year-old girl and her two 14-year-old friends boarded a bus at the Lava Street bus stop near Centrelink heading to Gateway Plaza.
The teen girls noticed the man as he tried to engage with other young people on the bus including teenage girls.
The man allegedly told one girl to take off her face mask as she was beautiful and shouldn't hide it.
The three teens tried not to make eye contact with the man.
They got off the bus at Gateway Plaza and noticed the man about 10 metres behind following them.
The girls went into Kmart.
They went to the toy section, activewear and then the registers as the man allegedly followed them for about 30 minutes.
One of the girls called a friend who worked at Kmart and the man remained in the vicinity even when the girls met the Kmart worker, kicking his football.
The teens went to the food court area at Gateway Plaza, lost the man but when the girls got back on the bus the man reappeared.
He tried to strike up conversations with the girls and allegedly stared at the breasts and crotch of one girl, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The man allegedly slapped one girl on the knee and touched another on the leg, instilling sheer terror in the victims.
The girls got off the bus at Lava Street and went to the McDonald's central restaurant.
The man walked into the restaurant minutes later and the girls left, hiding in the Target undercover car park.
They informed their parents what had been happening and reported to police the man had been following them for two hours.
That night a female resident in Warrnambool's Bryant Street had a man knocking on her front door to tell her that her vehicle headlights had been left on.
The man, who had a football, asked if the woman was having dinner alone and said he lived behind her.
The woman thanked him and went inside.
Later that night an unknown man entered the women's home through a backdoor while the woman and her boyfriend were in bed.
The boyfriend startled the intruder who fled.
Investigations in relation to that offending are ongoing.
Police will oppose the man being granted bail in the Warrnambool court on Monday, claiming he is an unacceptable risk of continuing to offend.
They said all the alleged victims were fearful, left shaken and anxious.
The man was remanded in custody on Friday and charged with three counts of stalking.
He was previously jailed for serious offending.
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