An Indian immigrant repeat sex offender has been given a suspended sentence for exposing himself to three teenage girls at a Queensland convenience store, allowing him to avoid having his visa automatically suspended.
Agam Arora, 33, who came to Australia from India in 2017 and has been on a temporary visa while running a restaurant in Cairns, last week pleaded guilty to committing an indecent act in a public place and possessing an ice pipe, Cairns Post reported.
Cairns Magistrates Court heard Arora, who was on parole at the time and had six previous indecent act convictions, beckoned a 15-year-old girl to a back from of the convenience store where he was working and exposed himself to her in March this year.
The girl and two of her friends aged 17 and 18, who were buying slushies at the time, all then saw Arora masturbating and immediately reported him to police, telling officers they were “freaked out”, police prosecutor David Castor told the court.
Mr Castor said Arora had already been allowed to not have a conviction recorded for three of his previous offences, and that while on probation had gone on to commit three more offences.
But Arora’s lawyer Angus Edwards KC told the court his client had only started his offending after being offered methamphetamine by a customer, had been undergoing treatment for exhibitionist “paraphilia” during his 99 days in custody on remand, and had the support of family.
Mr Edwards told the court his client would have his visa automatically suspended if he given a prison sentence, and argued that his acceptance of his drug and exhibitionism problems and efforts at rehabilitation meant he should be given a sentence that was immediately suspended.
“Deportation is a relevant factor where it makes a period of incarceration more onerous,” he said.
Acting Magistrate Raimund Heggie called the sex crime “disturbing” and noted Arora’s offending had escalated since his previous offending since he had “actually invited the victims”, but ultimately sentenced him to 18 months’ jail suspended for three years.
Mr Heggies sentenced Arora to another three years of probation for his previous charges with counselling and drug testing conditions, and fined him $300 for breaching parole.
Header image: Agam Arora (Facebook).
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