Vic magistrate guilty of indecent assault

A Melbourne magistrate has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two teenage boys in the 1980s.

A Melbourne magistrate has pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting two teenage boys nearly 30 years ago.

Both victims, who described 56-year-old Simon Mitchell Cooper as "gregarious" and "quite posh", said he was always complimenting their bodies when they knew him in the 1980s.

One victim said he felt Cooper, who was a lawyer at the time, had a position of authority that he exploited.

"He was a person in a position of power and authority who took advantage of me," he said in a statement tendered to the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

The victim said Cooper would give him "rocket fuel" drinks and grab him then "joke it off" as if it were their secret.

Cooper, of Brighton, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to seven charges of indecent assault.

Magistrate Ian Guy, who came from NSW for Cooper's committal hearing, struck out three charges of attempted rape and two further charges of indecent assault.

In a statement to the court, the second victim said Cooper left him an unsigned note which said "I love you with all my heart please f*** me at your earliest convenience".

The other victim said Cooper was always "accidentally" brushing up against him or touching him.

"It happened so much that I became desensitised and just accepted that it was going to happen," he said in a statement.

The victims were in their early teens when they met Cooper.

Cooper, a former crown prosecutor, was appointed as a magistrate in February last year.

He has been suspended from his role until the case is resolved.

A spokesperson for the Melbourne Magistrates Court said there would be no change to his status as a magistrate as the matter was ongoing.

Cooper's bail was extended and he will appear before the Victorian County Court on September 3.


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Source: AAP


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