A MAN groped a woman and exposed himself to four others, including three children, a jury has ruled.

Taylor Carroll, 20, of Rye Hills, Halstead, was found guilty of three counts of exposure and one count of sexual assault after a three-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Two retired women and three children, who cannot be identified because they are victims of sexual offences, were all walking in the Parsonage Street and Tidings Hill area on one day in July last year when Carroll, who is unemployed, exposed himself to them.

He was also found guilty of sexually assaulting one of the women after grabbing her breast.

The unanimous verdicts came after three-and-a-half hours of deliberation on Wednesday.

After the verdict was announced, Judge Christopher Ball told Carroll he wanted to make sure “the ladies of Halstead are not pestered any further”.

He said: “There is something in his history to say he not on track for very long. It’s either drink or drugs making him behave this way.

“One of the offences was a sexual assault. While we can put up with a degree of misconduct, sexual assault is another matter. He is young and it’s important that the court has a better understanding of him to make sure the ladies of Halstead are not pes- tered any further in this way.”

Giving evidence on Friday, Carroll claimed he was smoking cannabis in an alleyway at the time of the offences and had been misidentified.

He said the allegations had destroyed his life.

He said: “I never exposed myself and I never would. It’s ridiculous.

“I had one pint at the Oak House and I walked up to the snooker club.

“I had a drink there and played a game and picked up some cannabis from my friend at Bluebridge near the sports hall. I do smoke cannabis. I do like a smoke.

“It wasn’t all the time but it was on an occasion when I could afford it, I would buy a ten bag [£10 of cannabis].

“I went to a cows’ track to smoke it in an alley leading to Highfields.

“I went there because I could make sure I wouldn’t get caught and it’s on the way home. I didn’t finish it because I saw a police car and because I have previous I ran off.

“I ran home to hide my cannabis.

“The police got there and handcuffed me.”

Mark Halsey, prosecuting, had questioned why Carroll had not produced any witnesses to vouch for him.

He said: “In your statement you said you couldn’t have done it because that evening you were in Oak House.

“If there are witnesses to confirm you were there why didn’t you ask them to come forward?”

Carroll has been bailed until his sentencing later this month.

He is barred from pubs during afternoons and evenings and has residency conditions.