An alleged serial naked swimmer accused of defecating in a public pool and urinating in a supermarket does not have a mental illness, a court has heard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Deane Richard Roach has been refused bail, with a magistrate saying his "bizarre" and "unpredictable" alleged behaviour posed too much of a risk to the public.
Mr Roach initially appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court to face 13 fresh charges on Tuesday, when Magistrate James Stewart sent him to Canberra Hospital for a mental health assessment.
Police have accused the Holt man of being nude and otherwise exposed at three public pools across Canberra, as well as urinating in the Greenway Coles and stalking a woman who reprimanded him over the alleged episode of underwater defecation.
The alleged offending is said to have begun in June and spanned more than three months, with Club Lime ANU, Aqua Harmony in Kambah and the Stromlo Leisure Centre all featuring.
Children as young as 10 have been exposed to Mr Roach's genitals in public places, according to police.
When Mr Roach was returned from hospital to court on Wednesday, Special Magistrate Margaret Hunter said experts had concluded that the 43-year-old was not mentally ill.
Legal Aid lawyer Helen Hayunga applied for Mr Roach to be released on bail, but he repeatedly insisted on speaking for himself and told the court: "I have pulled my life together since the last occurrence."
Mr Roach said he had not been near a pool for more than four weeks, while he had been "heavily in the church arrangement recently" with a group of Jehovah's Witnesses.
He also said he needed to be in the community to go to work, care for his mother and help look after some of his four children.
Ms Hayunga told the court that Mr Roach had suffered "a very serious" back injury some 10 years ago, which was why he was participating in Arthritis ACT hydrotherapy sessions when some of the alleged incidents occurred.
She argued that he should be granted bail with conditions including that he not attend public pools, nor contact people associated with swimming facilities or Arthritis ACT, where the alleged stalking victim worked.
"He will simply have to forego hydrotherapy or find some other means of exercising," Ms Hayunga said.
Prosecutor Kiara Sheridan opposed bail, labelling Mr Roach's alleged behaviour "bizarre, shameless and disturbing".
She said there was nothing to suggest that he would comply with bail conditions, given that being "called out by members of the public" and banned from pools did not appear to have deterred him.
Those allegedly exposed to Mr Roach's offending, she said, seemed to often be vulnerable people like children, young women and workers who were just trying to do their jobs.
Ms Sheridan said some of the people who had given statements against Mr Roach had told police they were concerned that he knew where they worked or where their children went swimming, and that they might encounter him again if he was granted bail.
He had also risked public safety with the alleged pool defecation and supermarket urination, she told the court.
When the accusations of pooing in a pool were raised, Mr Roach remarked: "Not guilty".
He has not, however, entered formal pleas to the 13 charges, which include stalking, indecent exposure and acts of indecency.
In refusing bail, Ms Hunter said there was "a very real risk" that Mr Roach would commit offences and interfere with witnesses if released.
The magistrate said the case against Mr Roach seemed "very strong", with a myriad of statements and "CCTV showing some of the behaviour".
She noted that there was also some suggestion of similar public exposure in 2018, though Mr Roach had never been charged over that, while the allegations covering recent months appeared to demonstrate "a pattern of behaviour"
"Past history is an indicator of future behaviour, as we all know," Ms Hunter said.
She remanded Mr Roach in custody, to appear in court again on November 16.