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A man who sexually touched a teenage girl on her bus home has been spared a jail sentence because of his learning difficulties and mental health problems.
The Royal Court heard that Reece Nathan Williams (33) touched the 15-year-old girl’s leg and put his hand up her skirt.
However, Jurats decided that prison was not appropriate as Williams had already spent 242 days in Woodleigh House mental health facility in Bedfordshire – the equivalent of 11 months in prison with time off for good behaviour.
Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, said the girl had been in her school uniform and was waiting for her bus at Liberation Station when Williams, whom she did not know, sat down next to her to wait for the same bus.
She said: "He leaned over to pull up her sock and then touched her leg. She moved her leg away."
He then took a photo of her on his mobile phone and asked to take a photo of her SIM card, which she allowed.
Advocate Carvalho said that the girl "started to worry".
"He asked her: 'Do you have a boyfriend?' She tried to ignore him."
When the girl got on the bus, Williams sat beside her and "put his hand up her skirt and moved it to the top of her thigh".
He then suggested performing a sex act on her and tried to cuddle her, and asked if he could “take her somewhere special”.
Williams was ordered off the bus by the driver. Another man got off at the same stop and is said to have assaulted Williams.
Under interview with police, Williams said he had only wanted to make sure the teenager got home safely and said the "somewhere special" he wanted to take her was the beach.
He later admitted the charge of unlawful sexual touching.
Advocate Carvalho accepted that Williams would be "very vulnerable in prison" and suggested the alternative of probation.
Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, explained that Williams had never had an intimate relationship so said: "He was in uncharted territory. He was probably overwhelmed by excitement and anxiety. Alcohol was also a factor. He was not fully in control."
She added: "He believed there was some kind of connection between them. We know that Mr Williams completely misread the situation."
Advocate Binnie said Williams had pleaded guilty early, had no previous convictions and suffered from a lack of maturity and pointed out: ‘He has expressed remorse, even though he has struggled to understand other people’s feelings and points of view'."
The Jurats agreed to the prosecution’s request for a two-year probation order.
Bailiff Sir Timothy Le Cocq said the offence would normally have carried a prison sentence but there were "exceptional circumstances" in this case.
He told Williams: "This must have been a frightening and extremely unpleasant experience for the young lady in question. But the challenges you have faced and are facing in your life are matters to which we give the fullest possible weight."
Williams was banned from unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 and from any contact with the victim for two years. He has been put on the sex offenders’ register for five years.
The other Jurats presiding were Steven Austin-Vautier and Andrew Cornish.
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