Man jailed for masturbating outside woman’s home

A MAN has been jailed for masturbating outside a 68-year-old woman’s house in Merriwa while she was home alone.

Cameron Lee Yarran, who is currently serving a 15-month sentence in Acacia Prison, appeared via video link in Joondalup Magistrate’s Court on Friday charged with committing an obscene act in public.

The police prosecutor said that at 6.30pm on June 7, Yarran knocked on the door of the woman’s house with his hands down the front of his pants and masturbating.

He asked her to call him a taxi to Yanchep which she said she would do and closed the door.

He then knocked on her window while continuing to masturbate.

The woman asked him to leave and threatened to call police.

“He then produced his penis and continued to masturbate, smiling and poking his tongue out,” the prosecutor said.

The woman then closed the curtains and called police.

It is believed Yarran was outside her window for 30 minutes.

Duty lawyer Andrew Parker said while Yarran could not remember the incident, he did admit to it and was “sorry for what he had done”.

Mr Parker said Yarran had a 20-year problem with meth and was “off his face at the time”.

Mr Parker also agreed the victim would have been “scared and concerned for her welfare” and noted that Yarran’s guilty plea meant she would not be required to “re-live” the incident by giving evidence in court.

He requested Magistrate Jennifer Hawkins consider a concurrent prison term to run alongside his current “reasonably significant” sentence, or consider a significant discount.

Ms Hawkins said it was “very serious offending” where the victim was “fearful enough to call police”.

While she accepted the guilty plea saved the 68-year-old the “embarrassment” of having to go to court, she noted Yarran had a “very long record” and previous stints in jail because of his drug addiction.

“Meth loomed large again here and while that does not excuse the offending, it does indicate why,” she said.

With a maximum penalty of 12 months in prison or $12,000, Ms Hawkins said the offence was too serious not to consider prison.

She also noted the offence was “separate and distinct” from why he was currently in jail, so a concurrent term was not appropriate.

However, she said she was also mindful he was already serving 15 months.

Ms Hawkins added another two months to Yarran’s sentence but made him eligible for parole.

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