A man sentenced to three months in jail for sexual exhibitionism in a Sydney hardware store has had his sentence suspended following a successful appeal.
A sexual exhibitionist who committed an act of indecency in front of a young female hardware store worker has walked from a Sydney court after successfully appealing a three-month prison sentence.
Shonit Danwer’s wife burst into tears of joy when she heard the serial flasher would not have to serve any jail time, with defence lawyer Michael Moussa convincing Parramatta District Court Judge Martin Sides imprisonment was too severe a punishment.
Danwer was due to serve three months inside after being found guilty of committing an act of indecency during a trip to Bunnings at Marsden Park in the city’s northwest last June.
He had gone to buy some taps and approached a young female staff member in an aisle.
“The accused became fidgety as he began holding his genitalia,” the court heard on Wednesday.
“Then he unzipped his pants and started masturbating.”
Danwer pleaded not guilty during a hearing at Mount Druitt local court but was in January convicted and immediately appealed the sentence.
An application to dismiss the charge on the grounds of mental health issues was rejected by Judge Sides but he did accept Mr Moussa’s argument that the sentence was too harsh and there were more appropriate non-custodial ways to deal with Danwer.
“The community would be better protected by Mr Danwer’s commitment to therapeutic jurisprudence and his belated remorse,” he said.
Danwer, a self-employed homeopath, has been diagnosed by psychiatrists Dr Olav Nielssen and Dr Jeremy O’Dea as having a “paraphilic disorder” relating to an exhibitionist sexual dysfunction.
Having him continue the course of treatment prescribed by the psychiatrists was the best outcome for the community and Danwer, Mr Moussa said.
“Despite admissions being made at a later stage the court must take into account the belated remorse accompanied by material of forensic psychologists in determining the appropriate sentence,” he told the court.
Judge Sides agreed and suspended Danwer’s sentence.
Danwer has also been ordered to continue regular treatment as part of the good behaviour bond attached to his revised sentence.
Mr Moussa said his client was happy with the outcome and would adhere to the judges’s orders.
Danwer has previously been charged over similar offences.
In 2011 he was caught exposing himself to an undercover police officer, the court heard.