2003: SHOP FLASHER JAILED FOR 15 MONTHS
A man who used to drive a bus was convicted of exposing himself indecently to a three-year-old girl as her mother was shopping nearby.The young girl was choosing sweets inside a Kidderminster store when Keith Holloway, who was intoxicated from drinking cider, made his inappropriate move.
His actions were interrupted when the mother spotted him adjusting his clothing and became enraged, Worcester Crown Court was told.
Holloway then grabbed her finger, pushed her backward, and broke down crying on the counter of the Gora supermarket in Burcher Green.
He pleaded for forgiveness and remained waiting until police came to arrest him, according to prosecutor Jonathan Gosling.
The defendant, aged 49 and living on Longfellow Green, Kidderminster, admitted to the charge of child indecency and received a sentence of 15 months’ imprisonment, as well as a lifetime ban on working with children.
The incident took place when the mother, accompanied by her five-year-old son, briefly looked away.
Holloway, who previously had a 1984 conviction for mailing obscene materials, told police he was feeling frustrated about his personal life and had consumed approximately two litres of cider.
Defense attorney Nicolas Cartwright argued that his client was under the influence of both alcohol and cannabis, feeling sorry for himself at the time.
He suggested that the act might have been a desperate attempt for help rather than motivated by sexual desire.
Nonetheless, Judge Michael Mott pointed out that there was a clear sexual motive, noting that Holloway’s past offense in the 1980s foreshadowed this behavior.
The judge emphasized that this was a particularly heinous incident, with the mother as much a victim as the child.
Describing the act as shocking and unexpected, he added that the young girl may be too young to understand or remember it clearly.
