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A registered Warrnambool sex offender is expected to be immediately released from custody after successfully appealing against the severity of a 12-month jail sentence for stalking and touching another teenage girl.
Ian Cooper, 34, of Ocean Grove, appealed in the koori division of the Warrnambool County Court against the severity of a 12-month jail sentence imposed in June this year at the magistrates court after he pleaded guilty to stalking and touching another young female.
On Wednesday Judge Claire Quin imposed an eight-month jail term which will be followed by another 12-month community corrections order with conditions Cooper receive alcohol, drug and mental health treatment as well as supervision.
Cooper has already served 267 days in custody and was expected to be released from the Warrnambool police station cells on Wednesday.
Judge Quin said that in a statement the victim explained to the court she did not feel safe and now did not go anywhere alone.
Cooper has significant prior court appearances and has in the past regularly been sentenced to serve jail terms.
Judge Quin said it was relevant that Cooper's charges had not been heard in the koori court and she didn't know why that was the case.
She said Cooper would now be supported by the National Disability Insurance Scheme and he had accommodation in Warrnambool.
The judge said Cooper had actively engaged in the appeal with the koori court elders - Locky Eccles and Denise Lovett - and he now had insight into his offending.
It was Cooper's first time in the koori court although Judge Quin explained the elders had limited input into the sentencing.
She said an Office Of Corrections officer had questioned Cooper's suitability and it was fair to say the officer had expressed concerns.
Cooper was subsequently found unsuitable for another corrections order after an assessment and concerns were raised by the OOC about his continued offending.
The office said that if the judge decided to impose such an order that electronic monitoring and an overnight curfew were recommended.
The judge said that Cooper could not have unauthorised contact with children.
She said the concerns raised by the OOC were legitimate.
On October 4: A Warrnambool sex offender will not be granted an early release from jail unless a County Court judge is convinced he'll be properly supported in the community.
Ian Cooper, 34, of Ocean Grove, has appealed against the severity of a 12-month jail sentence imposed in June after he pleaded guilty to stalking and touching another teen girl.
He has served about nine months in custody on remand and was to be released on an adjourned undertaking to engage with psychiatric treatment.
On Tuesday, an NDIS support coordinator told judge Claire Quin there would be no support available if Cooper was to be released from custody that day.
He said a support worker would need to be found in order to engage with Cooper to see what NDIS could actually put in place.
Indigenous elder Denise Lovett said Cooper had spent a lot of time in prison and it appeared there was no support work being done when he was in the community.
The NDIS manager told the court a plan could be put in place before Cooper was potentially re-sentenced and released on October 13.
Cooper will appear in court again on that day.
Earlier, September 27: A Warrnambool sex offender who has previously described himself as a "teenager on heat" is being assessed for another community correction order, despite previously being found unsuitable and breaching parole four times.
Ian Cooper, 34, of Ocean Grove, appeared in the Warrnambool division of the Koori County Court on Monday before judge Claire Quin and elders Locky Eccles and Denise Lovett.
He appealed against the severity of a 12-month jail sentence imposed in the city's magistrates court in June.
Cooper pleaded guilty on that day to stalking and touching another teen girl.
On Monday Cooper told the court that he had currently served nine months in custody.
"I've come a long way now. I'm going quite well. I had drugs and it changed me," he said, adding he now had an NDIS package approved although it did not involve seven-day a week care.
Cooper told the court he was "friendly", but Ms Lovett explained sometimes that sort of behaviour was frightening to others.
Lawyer Ian Pugh said Cooper now had a greater understanding of his offending according to a psychologist's report.
Cooper said he felt terrible about his offending and he was motivated and dedicated to doing well.
In reference to being in and out of jail, Cooper said: "I'm over it. I'm over it."
A community corrections officer told the court Cooper was released after a lengthy jail term and was placed on a two-year corrections order that the defendant had breached by re-offending.
"We have concerns," he said, explaining that Cooper had been on parole five times, but breached parole four times.
The officer said Cooper was previously found unsuitable for a CCO, but placed on the order by a magistrate, which Cooper had then gone on to breach.
"He's been found unsuitable and our concern is that we are setting him up to fail," the officer said, adding that community safety was also a key sentencing consideration.
Judge Quin ordered Cooper be assessed for another CCO and that the case will return to court at 11am next Monday.
Cooper was released from jail on November 30 last year after serving an 11-month jail term for offending against three young female victims when he followed them on a bus.
A magistrate previously heard that on January 18 this year Cooper, a registered sex offender, was at Warrnambool's Civic Green when he started yelling out to a 17-year-old girl for a cigarette about 1am.
Cooper noticed the victim was wearing identification attached to a lanyard that indicated she was a minor.
Detective Senior Constable Jacqui Eaton said the victim did not know Cooper and she became increasingly terrified.
She alleged Cooper followed the victim to the breakwater, commenting on her age and telling her to say she was 18 if they were stopped by police.
Cooper allegedly told the victim he was classified as a "registered paedophile", that he used drugs and had previously been charged with following girls on a bus.
Detective Senior Constable Eaton said Cooper approached the victim and grabbed her around the neck for about 20 seconds before later sliding his arms underneath hers.
"(The victim) was terrified at this point," she said.
She said the girl continued to be followed by Cooper as she moved through the city and back to Raglan Parade, where she had texted a friend to meet her near Warrnambool Primary School.
The victim and the witness went into the BP service station before later exiting and beginning the walk home as they could no longer see Cooper.
But Cooper followed them to the victim's home where he could later be seen pacing up and down the footpath.
The victim contacted police.
Detective Senior Constable Eaton said Cooper had 29 pages of criminal history which involved touching a retail staff member on the bottom, touching a Coles worker and telling her that he loved her, and loitering around a nearby house where three adult females lived.
She said that since his release from prison, Cooper was repeatedly spoken to by police at licensed premises in the early morning where he was believed to be staring at alcohol-affected women.
The detective said that during a previous police interview, Cooper referred to himself as a "teenager on heat".
She said police were concerned about his behaviour toward women.
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