A Walton man has been found guilty of secretly filming a girl in a McDonald’s toilet as well as an “extremely disturbing” sexual assault on another girl.
John Bate, 28, snuck into the girls toilets at the McDonalds at Apex Corner, in Hanworth, before his distressed victim spotted him and chased him away to get his phone on July 25, 2015.
He was also convicted of sexually assaulting another girl in front of her friend, and outraging public decency by touching himself in public after they got off a broken down bus in Walton in a separate incident on June 18, 2015.
From August 2012: Juror speaks out over 'inept' sex prosecution
Bate, of The Hart, in Walton, was found guilty of voyeurism and sexual assault after a trial at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday, February 16.
He had appeared in court accused of a string of sex attacks on young women, including a 14-year-old girl, in Teddington Lock in 2012.
The trial collapsed after what one juror described as an “extraordinarily inept case” from prosecutors and poor police evidence.
CPS London reviewing lawyer Catherine Wear said: "Bate's sexual offences were extremely disturbing and distressing for his victims.
"Less than a week before filming the girl in the toilet, he had been questioned by police about the offence involving two schoolgirls, suggesting a flagrant disregard of the law, and a belief that he could not be caught.
"I am most grateful to the victims and the independent witnesses who helped convict Bate by coming forward and giving evidence against him."
John Bate was acquitted of a string of sex offences in 2012
Bate was arrested after a passerby grabbed him outside the toilet and a search found his phone a metre away.
The victim’s boyfriend looked through the phone and saw the video from the toilet cubicle, before deleting it and any photographs. He then gave Bate back his phone, with Bate offering the couple money and begging for the police not to be called.
When officers arrived the phone could not be found as Bate's girlfriend had taken it home and hidden it, but it was later recovered.
Bate is set to be sentenced on Tuesday, March 14 at Kingston Crown Court.
- Got a story? Call the newsdesk on 020 8722 6315 or send an email to jonathan.mitchell@london.newsquest.co.uk
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