A Supreme Court jury in Launceston unanimously found a 57-year-old man guilty of the indecent assault of a woman with an intellectual disability in the Launceston Library in May 2017.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Jurors also found Ashley William Baverstock, of West Launceston, guilty of a second count of indecent assault in the woman's residence some six hours after the library assault.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The jury heard that the woman was reading a book in the library when Baverstock approached her.
The man, who admitted to police he liked to "steal cuddles", then rubbed her breasts and her vagina, over her clothing.
The jury heard from two women, who were teenagers at the time, who suffered indecent assaults in 2005 in a Northern Tasmanian library from someone they now know as Ashley Baverstock.
He was also found guilty of rubbing her breasts and her vagina over clothing after visiting the woman's unit about 8pm.
He was found not guilty of one count of indecent assault and aggravated sexual assault at the unit.
Justice Robert Pearce commended the jury: "It's obvious from the verdicts that you have given all of them careful thought".
Crown prosecutor Virginia Jones told Justice Pearce that Baverstock had an extensive criminal history across four states stretching back to burglary and stealing in NSW in 1983.
In 1992 he was extradited from Tasmania to South Australia after breaching parole on a 44-month sentence.
In Victoria in 1997 he was found guilty of wilful and obscene exposure in public and in 1999 an indecent act with a child under 16 years of age.
Ms Jones said it was an aggravating offence that the complainant was a person with a disability.
Defence counsel Patrick O'Halloran said sexual offending was generally "unplanned, opportunistic, public touching over clothing".
He submitted that the offence in the unit was spontaneous touching over clothing after the complainant sat on his lap.
Justice Pearce asked Mr O' Halloran about the propriety of going to the person's unit at 8pm even if she did sit on his lap.
"It's not a good look is it," he remarked. He adjourned sentencing until December 3 at 4.15pm.