Notorious sex pest who hounded lone women in Scarborough is sent to jail

Joel Motsepe’s creepy behaviour in plain sight was in breach of a court order imposed in 2021 to protect women in Scarborough following similar behaviour.

Motsepe, 29, a devout Christian and convicted sex offender, was banned from following or approaching lone females in public following his previous conviction for similar offences in September 2021, York Crown Court heard.

But on November 6 last year, a police community support officer was called out to reports of a man approaching women at JD Sports in Westborough.

“The male was said to be hanging around inside the store and approaching female staff and customers, causing them to feel uncomfortable,” said prosecutor Austin Newman.

By the time the officer arrived at the shop, Motsepe had disappeared, added Mr Newman.

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She went looking for him and saw a man matching his description in the nearby Poundland shop.

“She went to speak to him and heard him say to somebody, ‘Am I a bad person?’” said Mr Newman. “As she approached…he tried to walk away.”

The officer caught up with him and asked about the incident at JD Sports but he “did not appear to be listening” and the officer suspected he was drunk or otherwise “under the influence”.

“As she was speaking to him, he suddenly walked away from her and approached a single female who had two young children with her,” added Mr Newman.

Motsepe walked up close to the woman and said to her: “Am I making you feel uncomfortable?”

“She replied that he was (making her feel uncomfortable),” said Mr Newman.

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Police later trawled CCTV footage from JD Sports which showed Motsepe approaching a lone woman in a queue inside the shop and putting his arm around her “in an embrace”.

“Her startled reaction suggests that the defendant’s attentions were not welcome,” said Mr Newman.

The following day, the same officer was on duty in Westborough when she spotted Motsepe urinating in an alleyway. When she warned him that he would be reported, Motsepe replied: “Go on and report me.”

“She then told him to move on and he left the alleyway and walked out into Westborough, but then immediately approached a lone female standing at a bus stop,” added Mr Newman.

“The defendant approached her and raised his clenched fist as if preparing to fist bump the female (who) didn’t respond. The (named officer) shouted at him, telling him to move on.”

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Motsepe, of Royal Avenue, Scarborough, was later identified by a police offender manager who recognised him from body-worn camera footage provided by the community-support officer, who did not have the power of arrest.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of breaching a sexual-harm prevention order which banned him approaching lone females and women with children in public. He appeared for sentence via video link on Friday, April 21, after being remanded in custody.

Mr Newman said Motsepe had 23 previous convictions for 35 offences including sexually assaulting a train conductor, theft, violence, travelling on the railways without paying and being drunk and disorderly.

In September 2021, he received a 12-month jail sentence, a five-year sexual-harm prevention order and placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years for two counts of sexual assault.

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In one of those incidents, in August 2021, Motsepe sexually assaulted a holidaymaker in a mobility scooter as she waited for her partner to come out of a shop.

The random attack occurred in Westborough after Mostepe had been prowling the town centre.

The victim was with her two young children when Motsepe wandered over and tried to pat one of the dogs, before “leaning over her while she was in the scooter” and rubbing his arm along an intimate part of her body.

As she put her arms out to try to stop him, Motsepe backed away but then walked up to her teenage daughter, asked her to pick her dog up, kissed the dog and then put his arm around the young girl.

He targeted another woman in the Brunswick Shopping Centre shortly afterwards. The victim - who was with her two young daughters, one in a pram - was waiting for her partner to return from the public toilets when Motsepe walked up to her, grabbed her by the hand and kissed her, telling her: “You are so beautiful.”

Motsepe then left, telling her: “God bless. Have a good day.”

Defence barrister Victoria Smithswain said Motsepe’s offending was fuelled by alcohol abuse.

“He is a Christian,” she added.

“He says he has been struggling in recent years to practise his faith because of his alcohol (use).”

Jailing Motsepe for 16 months, judge Simon Hickey told him he was “making women feel uncomfortable”.

He ordered that the sexual-harm prevention order should continue with the extra prohibition that Motsepe should have no avoidable contact with women he didn’t know.

Motsepe will remain on the sex-offenders’ register until August 2031.