An unemployed former ACT government worker has been labelled "arrogant" after he was captured on CCTV groping a stranger while clubbing.
Shane Mitchell Walden, 30, was ordered this week to do 120 hours of community service within a year after he pleaded guilty to committing an act of indecency without consent.
Agreed facts tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court show Walden was leaving the Mr Wolf nightclub in Civic when he passed his victim on a set of stairs early one morning in January 2020.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the woman's breasts, squeezing it and causing her "immediate pain".
The woman pushed Walden away and said words to the effect of: "You shouldn't do that."
She quickly reported the incident to a Mr Wolf security guard, who waved down a passing police car.
The victim pointed Walden out to police and officers approached him, only for Walden to insist "he didn't do anything wrong and didn't know what police were talking about".
CCTV footage from the nightclub told a different story, however, and Walden ultimately admitted in court to what he had done.
At a sentence hearing on Wednesday, prosecutor Juanita Zankin said Walden had consumed about 20 standard drinks before the "antisocial" conduct.
"The behaviour of the defendant was arrogant," Ms Zankin said, adding that the community must be shown it was unacceptable.
Ms Zankin also said references tendered to the court on Walden's behalf had indicated his crime was "completely out of character", but that was "somewhat at odds" with a criminal history that showed he had been violent towards women in the past.
Walden's lawyer, Connor McMaster, told the court the 30-year-old was embarrassed and determined never to do anything like this again.
He said the offence was "fleeting, rather than sustained", and a remorseful Walden had maintained his guilty plea despite "familial pressure" to change it.
Magistrate Peter Morrison described Walden's crime as "blatant".
"It must have been shocking for the victim," he said.
The magistrate also said the fact the incident had occurred in public may have particularly embarrassed the young victim.
"Nevertheless, your offending conduct was highly offensive and improper wherever it was committed," Mr Morrison told Walden.
He accepted, however, that Walden had not premeditated the offence and had acted in a "spur of the moment" fashion.
Mr Morrison imposed a criminal conviction alongside the community service order.
