Surrey man’s indecent exposure trial continues

WARNING: Some details in this story are disturbing. Discretion is advised.

The trial of a Surrey man accused of exposing himself to young women continued on Tuesday.

Thomas Cooper was cross-examined about his intentions when he arrived at the shopping mall in 2022.

The 53-year-old told the court he had no idea his genitals were showing when he was sitting on a couch in Guildford Town Centre that July. He testified he changed into loose-fitting athletic shorts without underwear in the mall parking lot because he planned to exercise.

However, the Crown prosecutor suggested Cooper changed because he intended to expose himself to shoppers.

The victim told the court on Monday that Cooper was sitting on a couch across from the store where she was working and was wearing loose shorts, a baseball cap and a surgical mask.

She said he looked at her, then moved the pant leg to expose his genitals and covered himself when others walked by.

“He was looking right at me,” the victim told the court. “When a lot of people were walking by, he would cover it with his tote bag. And when they left, he would expose it again.”

On Tuesday, the Crown prosecutor showed mall surveillance video and asked Cooper “We just saw you hike up your shorts and expose your penis, didn’t we?”

Cooper responded, “No.”

The prosecutor asked, “What do you think you saw?”

Cooper responded, “Yes, I grabbed my shorts and sat down like a man.”

The surveillance video also showed Cooper looking at two female shoppers and down at his groin area a couple of times.

The prosecutor said to Cooper “I’m going to further suggest that’s why you sharply turn to sit in that chair, pull up your shorts and intentionally expose yourself to those girls.”

Cooper responded, “No.”

The prosecutor said Cooper did nothing to try to cover himself up.

2:00 Surrey man accused of indecent act

In 2014, Cooper pleaded guilty to sexual interference for groping a teen girl at his bowling alley in Surrey.

Other charges were stayed in the case, including indecent exposure.

Two women outside the court on Monday and Tuesday said they were there to support the alleged victim in the latest case, as they were involved in the 2014 case.

However, they cannot be identified since they were minors when the alleged incident took place in 2014.

Cooper was sentenced to serve 45 weekends in jail but the women told Global News that the sentence was too lenient.

“He was still living within a couple blocks of our school,” one of the women said. “I am talking about someone who’s still allowed to go to his work, which is a bowling alley and there’s kids there.”

The defence argued the Crown’s case was circumstantial, and maintained it was an accident.

The Crown argued that the mall security videos and his witnesses have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Cooper did willfully expose his genitals.