A 62-year-old Island man will have to stay away from the beach for awhile after he pleaded guilty to exposing himself to a woman while she was reading a book at Brackley Beach.
Donald Ernest Harley appeared before Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court Friday where he changed his plea to guilty.
On April 16, the victim went to Brackley Beach where she lay down to read a book.
That’s when she noticed Harley drive in to the parking lot, park near her vehicle and walk between some sand dunes.
She also noticed him take off his jeans and she thought she saw him touching himself.
With few people on the beach, Harley walked out with a T-shirt on and his underwear over his penis.
When he was about 30 feet from the victim Harley pulled his underwear away and exposed himself.
But, as Crown attorney Gerald Quinn put it, Harley picked the wrong woman.
She lost her temper, let into him with a string of expletives and told him to go away.
“Suffice it to say, the defendant met his match on the beach that day,” Quinn said.
The court heard Harley started to pace after the victim yelled at him and seemed agitated.
When she left the beach, the victim wrote down Harley’s licence plate number and reported him to Parks Canada staff who then called the RCMP.
The Crown and defence made a joint recommendation for a suspended sentence with three years' probation and a ban from some Island beaches.
Before Orr handed down the sentence, defence lawyer Mitch MacLeod said Harley was an avid beach-goer and was feeling unwell on the day of the incident.
Harley’s actions were impulsive, he was remorseful and he was having trouble coming to grips with what he did, MacLeod said.
In handing down the sentence, Orr said she considered Harley’s guilty plea, the nature of the charge and the fact he didn’t have a criminal record.
Orr also gave the woman credit for her actions and said it was fortunate the victim was an adult who was able to deal with the situation better than a child.
Orr accepted the joint recommendation and extended the ban to all provincial and national park beaches.
She also ordered Harley to write an apology letter to the victim.
Harley will have to provide a DNA sample for the national databank and he will have to pay $100 to the victims of crime fund.
