A registered nurse has been found guilty of groping a colleague while they were working at Bloomfield mental health unit.
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Ragupathy Perumal, 58, formerly of Gibb Court, Pakenham, Victoria, pleaded not guilty to assault with an act of indecency but magistrate Elizabeth Ellis found him guilty following a hearing in Orange Local Court.
The victim, who was also a nurse at the mental health facility, said she was talking to a female colleague in a hallway at the end of her shift at 10pm on June 6, 2018, when Perumal walked past for the start of his shift.
The victim said Perumal slowed down and from behind touched her bottom, squeezed and slid his hand between her legs, grabbed her crotch and brushed against her thigh.
According to information presented to the court, the female colleague witnessed the victim's response but not the act, and the victim told her "he just touched my vagina".
"She described in minute detail what she felt," Ms Ellis said.
Although Perumal disputed the assault and said he gave the woman a "pat" or a "tap" on her back "to say hello" Ms Ellis found his descriptions to be inconsistent and she did not accept his evidence.
"He evaded questions rather than answer them when those questions questioned his versions," she said.
The doors to the hallway required swipe card security and it was estimated Perumal took about 10 seconds to walk between the two doors and barrister Philip Boncardo said there wouldn't have been time for his client to do what the victim said he did.
"I am of the opinion that it's entirely possible that it could have happened when it's not slowed down for a description," Ms Ellis said.
She also referred to a confrontation between Perumal and the female colleague who the victim was talking to in the hallway.
According to information presented to the court, the female colleague witnessed the victim's response but not the act, and the victim told her "he just touched my vagina".
Peremal and the witness did not get on and after the victim left the witness confronted him and called him "a low life".
Perumal's employment was terminated after the victim reported the matter, however he had moved to Victoria when police interviewed him.
Mr Boncardo said during the police interview Perumal suggested officers check CCTV footage but Ms Ellis said Perumal could have known that the cameras weren't focused on that spot.
Ms Ellis said Perumal had no other criminal charges and he was a person of good character and a psychiatric evaluation was requested by the defence.
*Perumal died before he was due to be sentenced.
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