Description
A 19-year-old teenager was caught on CCTV performing a sex act involving a metal rocking horse and a tree branch at Burn Valley Park in Hartlepool last October.
Two camera operators witnessed Callum Green committing the act live and alerted police, who arrested him on Rydal Street.
Green, of Alston Street, admitted criminal damage to the playground but denied outraging public decency.
At Teesside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday (October 15), it was heard that the rocking horse "required professional cleaning" after the early-morning incident.
Defense lawyer Tyler Plunkett agreed with the facts but argued the outraging charge didn't apply, as it wasn't in front of at least two public members.
Prosecutor Anne Mitchell countered: "It is the Crown’s case that both [CCTV operators] were witnessing the events in live CCTV."
District Judge Helen Cousins, addressing Green—who wore a light blue suit and tie—called the incident "unedifying to say the least."
She ruled: "I take the view that time has moved on and watching on a live feed does amount to being present. I therefore reject the submissions and find the case proved."
Noting Green as a "very young man," she ordered a pre-sentence report, adding: "All options are open so far as sentencing is concerned. I want to know more about you, what motivated these offences and what I can do about it."
Green was granted conditional bail, barring him from Burn Valley Gardens or any recreational playground in Cleveland, with sentencing set for November 14.