Cleaner at Covid contact tracing centre followed man into bathroom and masturbated

Ianos Carolea (36) had months earlier been arrested for exposing himself and carrying out the same offence in front of an undercover garda in a city centre shop toilet.

Judge Bryan Smyth fined him €500 at Dublin District Court when he admitted both offences.

The court heard Carolea had already paid a “very heavy price” for his offending and was getting “help.”

The accused, from Romania but with an address at The Hermitage, Balgriffin, Dublin 13, pleaded guilty to masturbating in public, at the HSE contact tracing offices, Heuston South Quarter on December 8 last year.

He also admitted an earlier count of the same offence at the Marks & Spencer, on Mary Street, on June 8, 2021.

The court heard it was reported to gardai that the office cleaner - Carolea - had twice followed a victim into the bathroom at the contact tracing centre.

On the second occasion, the cleaner entered a bathroom cubicle without closing the door and “slowly began to masturbate” in front of the man.

“He could see the defendant’s penis in his hand making slow up and down motions,” a garda sergeant said.

The victim reported it to management who went to the gardaí.

In the earlier incident, a plainclothes garda was in the public toilets at Marks & Spencer at 2.45pm as part of an undercover operation when Corolea came in and nodded at him to enter the cubicle beside his.

Moments later, Garda Seamus Donoghue said, the accused exited the cubicle and walked towards the undercover garda who was washing his hands.

Carolea began masturbating in front of the garda and when a second plainclothes officer entered the bathroom, the accused “didn’t seem to be put off by this and continued with his act of public masturbation.”

The garda identified himself and Corolea was arrested.

He was “perfectly cooperative and helpful to the investigation," Gda Donoghue said.

Carolea had no prior convictions.

He was married with children but now separated as a result of the cases which had caused great upset distress and damage to the accused and his family, defence solicitor Michael Kelleher said.

His family had stood by him and Carolea felt enormous guilt for what he had brought on them.

A condition of his family’s support was that he “gets help”, Mr Kelleher said, and a psychologist’s report was submitted to the court.

The accused recognised what happened was “not acceptable,” it had stopped and would not happen again.

He was now working in construction.