A repeat predator has admitted indecently assaulting three teenagers, chasing the terrified girls around busy Canberra shops in broad daylight and asking to pay them for sex.
"I'm going to get you," he yelled at the young victims during the protracted ordeal.
On Wednesday, Christopher Joseph Lichtwark once again showed off his speed by bolting from the ACT Magistrates Court after being granted bail.
But on this occasion, the day of his 40th birthday, the man was less inclined to be known as he covered his face with a jumper to avoid the gaze of media cameras.
Lichtwark pleaded guilty to committing an act of indecency on, or in the presence of, a child. The charge is rolled up to reflect crimes against the three victims.
It's not his first time before the court for these kinds of crimes, previously receiving a two-year good behaviour order for rubbing himself against, and propositioning, a 14-year-old girl in 2021.
Another charge relating to Lichtwark grabbing a girl by the hair and dragging her around was dismissed on mental impairment grounds last year.
Agreed facts tendered to the court detail the man's latest offending.
Lichtwark started following the three girls, all aged either 14 or 15, after they came out of Dickson Coles early last month in the middle of the day.
He propositioned them, offering to pay them for sex or to make out with him.
He then chased them around the Dickson Village shopping centre for approximately 15 minutes while the girls yelled words to the effect of: "Stop, please stop."
One of the victims called triple zero, screaming about the ongoing incident and recounting how the man was yelling "he would pay to f--- us".
Police arrived at Dickson Place, between the Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, to see the three victims climbing over a garden wall and Lichtwark "sprinting after them".
Asked by police what he was doing, the man responded: "Yeah I'm just catching up with some people, she, that lady, couldn't wait to make up a story."
"I said 'yeah, I'll chase you to do exercise, do a lap around the shops'."
A Legal Aid lawyer has previously flagged "some mental health issues at play" regarding Lichtwark.
The man is set to be sentenced in August.
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Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; MensLine 1300 789 978; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224.
