An international student from India has been convicted for sexually touching a fellow student without her consent on a bus.
27-year-old Sukhmandeep Singh, a student at the University of Wollongong, put his fingers through the side of the bus seat and inappropriately touched a woman sitting on the front seat during a road trip on April 2, the police alleged.
The woman told the police she felt someone poking her hip and when she looked down she saw a set of fingers pulling away through a gap between the seat and the side wall of the bus, the reported.
The woman said she then moved to the other side and noticed that Mr Singh had been sitting behind her. Moments later, she then saw him moving to the seat vacated by her. The victim said she feared Mr Singh would repeat the act on a woman sitting in the front seat when he again put his hands down, prompting her to tell Mr Singh a to stop.
The matter was reported to the police and Mr Singh was arrested and charged with sexually touching a person without consent.
On Tuesday, Mr Singh pleaded guilty in the Wollongong Local Court where his lawyer asked not to record a criminal conviction against his client due to his genuine remorse.
However, Magistrate Michael Stoddart said it was too serious a matter not to record a conviction.
Mr Singh was placed on a 12-month community corrections order on the condition of not reoffending and that he must appear before the court whenever he is called to do so. He was also fined $2,000.
Mr Singh has appealed the decision which is listed for hearing on July 5 in the Wollongong District Court.
