A Melbourne man who attacked a woman in a public toilet in front of her young children and then later raped a jogger is mentally ill, his lawyer has told a court.
Russell James Reid, 23, grabbed a woman inside a public toilet in the Highpoint West shopping complex in November last year.
He put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming as he forced his hand down her shirt and into her bra, the County Court heard on Tuesday.
Reid, from Lancefield, has pleaded guilty to rape, an indecent act in front a child, indecent assault and aggravated burglary.
The victim's two oldest children were with their mother and she was able to scream for one of them to get her husband.
After Reid put his hand down her pants and over her vagina, he released her and calmly walked out, the court heard.
The following day, Reid walked into the front yard of a home near Prahran where he pulled down his pants and showed a young girl his penis.
About an hour later, Reid attacked a woman on the City Trail walking track along Alexandra Avenue.
He grabbed the woman in a bear hug and pushed her, so they both fell down an embankment.
Reid told her not to scream or he would kill her, as he pulled down her pants and underwear, and penetrated her vagina with his fingers.
She managed to break away and run to a nearby cafe.
Reid was arrested later in the day and after initially saying they had the wrong person, he admitted he had tried to kiss a woman and have sex with her, "but it didn't work".
He later said another woman gave him "the come f*** me look" and "what was I supposed to do".
The court heard Reid has a bipolar or Schizoaffective disorder made worse by his use of alcohol and drugs, including cannabis and methamphetamines.
His lawyer said Reid had been hearing voices, believed he was being poisoned, and thought at one stage that a psychiatrist assessing him was American rapper Nicki Minaj.
His symptoms were consistent with a psychotic and maniac illness, and his moral culpability for his actions should be reduced because he was mentally ill at the time, the court heard.
His plea hearing continues.
Judge Jane Patrick will sentence him at a later date.
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