A man has appeared in court charged with committing an indecent act on two young girls along with other indecencies at an Auckland playground.
The 56-year-old was arrested late last year amid high-profile reports of indecent exposure at Rocket Park in New North Rd, Mt Albert.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges and elected a Judge alone trial during a brief appearance in the Auckland District Court on Monday.
Court documents show police have laid two charges against him of wilfully committing an indecent act in a public place, namely Rocket Park, on December 23.
He faces a third charge of wilfully committing an indecent act relating to a separate incident in Asquith Ave four days earlier.
He is also charged with committing an indecent act on a five-year-old girl on December 23, and faces a separate charge of committing an indecent act on an eight-year-old girl on December 8.
Both indecent act charges also relate to alleged offences in Mt Albert and carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Wilfully committing an indecent act in public has a maximum possible term of two years imprisonment.
The man, whose home address listed in court documents a Mt Albert flat, appeared before Judge Kevin Phillips represented by lawyer Hayden Geddes at the Auckland District Court on Monday afternoon.
He appeared in the dock from the cells wearing jeans and a T-shirt, flanked by court security.
An application for bail, opposed by police, was not advanced by Geddes in court.
Judge Phillips remanded the man in custody until his next appearance for a case review hearing before the same court on March 7.
Geddes sought and was granted interim name suppression until his clients’ next appearance. A fresh application for ongoing suppression will need to be made to prevent suppression lapsing at his next appearance, Judge Phillips said.
Police said last year he was arrested on December 23 and charged with performing an indecent act. A police spokeswoman issued an appeal for anyone who had witnessed similar incidents at Rocket Park to come forward.
“Police understand that this type of offending can cause great alarm in our community”, the spokeswoman said.
“We urge anyone who witnesses anything concerning to report it to police immediately.”
Concern had already been raised on Mt Albert and Sandringham community Facebook pages about the alleged behaviour of a man at Rocket Park.
Reports of concerning behaviour, in future or in relation to previous incidents at Rocket Park, could be done by calling 105, or making a report online at police.govt.nz/use-105 - using Update My Report.
If the report relates to the Rocket Park incidents submitters should include the file number 221224/3813, the police spokeswoman said.
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