A Hackett man has pleaded guilty to masturbating in front of shocked shoppers in a Kippax store last year.
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Mark Stephen Ridley, 53, had been due to stand trial in the ACT Supreme Court this week on a charge he committed an indecency in front of another person without their consent.
But he instead pleaded guilty before Chief Justice Helen Murrell to the offence.
Court documents said a woman and her granddaughter had been shopping in Kippax about 1.30pm on May 4 last year when they were confronted by Ridley, who was masturbating.
The victims reported the incident to the shop manager, who sent an employee to investigate.
The staff member saw Ridley – who had his pants open and his penis exposed – walk past him and leave the shop.
Ridley was identified by the shops CCTV and later admitted to the crime.
Ridley's plea puts him in breach of a good behaviour order for a similar offence.
In February last year, Ridley was convicted of indecent exposure after a woman saw him masturbating in his car while parked in Civic in November 2012.
He was sentenced to a one-year good behaviour order, and ordered to perform 20-hours' community service for that crime.
Ridley will reappear for sentence later this year.