Brendan Harris appears at the Auckland District Court for sentencing after being found guilty of multiple counts of doing an indecent act in a public place. Photo / George Block
Brendan Harris appears at the Auckland District Court for sentencing after being found guilty of multiple counts of doing an indecent act in a public place. Photo / George Block
An Auckland man who repeatedly exposed himself to girls aged under 10 at a playground has been sentenced to 11 months in prison for a spate of offending that shocked the Mt Albert community.
But he is set to walk free on Wednesday, the day he was sentenced, or a few days after, because of the time he has spent on remand.
Brendan William Harris, 57, was arrested late last year after multiple high-profile reports of indecent exposure at Rocket Park in New North Rd, Mt Albert.
Between December 8 and 23, he repeatedly visited the playground when children were playing, exposed himself to them and committed lewd acts.
His victims range in age from 5 to 43. He pleaded guilty to five counts of doing an indecent act in a public place, carrying a maximum prison term of two years.
Prosecutor Ryan Benic said the Crown viewed the offending at the most serious level for charges of its type.
“Particularly concerning is the element of confrontation,” Benic said.
The prosecutor said while the Crown acknowledged Harris had an alcohol problem, he had been aware of the problem for a number of years and had not addressed it.
“At some point we have to be looking at protection of the community.”
His lawyer Timothy Leighton said Harris had pleaded guilty at an early stage and sought the full discount for an early guilty plea of 25 per cent.
He said Harris was “desperate” to engage in rehabilitation and sought a sentence of intensive supervision for 18 months to allow that rehabilitation to happen.
“He’s terrified where alcohol has taken him.”
Judge Stephen Bonnar KC read victim impact statements, some from the parents of the children he targeted describing the anxiety and fear his actions had wrought. Some said they were in counselling as a result.
The Judge said his actions had a ripple effect through the Mt Albert community and led to people fearing for the safety of their children, the mother of one young victim said. Another victim said she was now scared to walk alone.
A report from Probation said Harris had no memory of the offending. At the time, he was drinking from 7am to 9pm, when he would black out, every day, Judge Bonnar said.
A Probation officer recommended a term of imprisonment, where he could receive custodial treatment for his addiction, saying community-based treatment would be insufficient to address his risk of further offending.
Judge Bonnar said there were several aggravating factors, including the fact there were five offences over a 15-day period.
There were six victims, four were women and two were young girls. He attempted to grab one victim and followed others.
Judge Bonnar adopted a starting point of 18 months then applied the full 25 per cent discount for the early guilty pleas, four-and-half-months, rounded up to five months on the basis of the remorse he expressed in a brief statement in court.
He applied a further discount of two months to take into account his addiction issues which Judge Bonnar said clearly caused his offending, leading to an end sentence of 11 months.
The sentence will include the six months he has spent on remand. As a result, because people on sentences under two years are eligible for parole after serving half their sentence, he will soon walk free, possibly as early as Wednesday.
The Judge imposed special release conditions to expire six months after his sentence expires.
Rocket Park in Mt Albert, Auckland, in 2001. File photo / Nicola Topping
In one instance shortly before he was arrested, he exposed himself to a 5-year-old girl while she was walking with her father and younger brother and made a crude and offensive remark.
Harris was granted interim name suppression at his first court appearance in January, which lapsed at a March hearing before Judge Simon Lance at the Auckland District Court.
Harris’ then lawyer Hayden Geddes entered guilty pleas on his client’s behalf to five charges of committing an indecent act, punishable by up to two years in prison.
Harris initially faced six charges, but Crown prosecutor Brooke Magill told the court one charge had been withdrawn.
Court documents show his address is a five-minute walk from the Rocket Park playground across the Western railway line in the inner Auckland suburb.
The agreed summary of facts outlining the offending admitted by Harris was also released to the Herald by Judge Lance.
Harris’ offending began on December 8 around 3.20pm when an 8-year-old girl was playing at the park, named for the blue and red rocket forming the focal point of the playground. Other children were also playing there.
Harris was drunk, court documents record, and he exposed himself and asked the girl a lewd question.
“She immediately fled to an adult and Mr Harris left the scene,” the documents state.
The second victim, an 18-year-old woman, was sitting on the grass field at the park on December 19. Harris approached her with his pants down while performing a sexual act.
“She froze in shock for several moments. She then got up and walked away towards the main road. Mr Harris followed her and attempted to reach out and grab her but she pulled away.”
The woman took out her phone and pretended to film him to try to stop him from following her any further, the papers read.
He stopped on the other side of the road and continued to touch himself while staring directly at the woman.
While she was on the phone to police, he circled the playground where 10 to 20 young children were playing.
That same day, Harris approached a 17-year-old girl at the pathway at the back of the park and put his hands inside his pants while looking at her.
He followed her until she stopped and took her phone out to photograph him. He then crossed the road and continued to walk parallel to her with his hands in his pants, but eventually stopped following her.
The fourth and fifth victims, aged 43 and 29, were approached by Harris on December 23 near Rocket Park.
The 43-year-old hid in the YMCA building foyer to escape Harris as he performed a lewd act.
The 29-year-old arrived at the YMCA and noticed Harris following the other woman. As she reversed into a park, Harris approached her vehicle and exposed himself. She took out her phone and Harris disappeared behind the building.
About half an hour later, Harris approached a 5-year-old girl walking home from Rocket Park with her father and younger brother along Rossgrove Tce near Harris’ home.
The summary said Harris declined to comment about his offending and that he has previously been before the courts. His previous convictions span 1985 to 2019 and include drunk driving and using obscene language.
