The young woman was on her way home from a night out when 37-year-old Aaron Black jumped out from behind a bus stop and began “aggressively masturbating” while staring at her.
Black, described as a foot fetishist and porn addict, has been repeatedly committing similar offences since 2010 – racking up convictions for exposure, outraging public decency, sexual assault and breaching sexual harm prevention orders.
Much of his offending has taken place at bus stops and parks across London including in Lewisham, Shoreditch, Wimbledon, Clapham, and Elephant and Castle.
Black branded his latest offending “a slip” and insisted “I now look at females as my sisters”.
Judge Anne Brown said she feels women must be protected by having him behind bars.
‘It was terrifying’
On Wednesday (January 8) Black, of Montfort Place in Southfields, appeared at Kingston Crown Court to be sentenced for the offences committed in Clapham Common on November 13.
Prosecutor Meera Yagnik read a statement from the victim describing the incident, which took place at a bus stop near Clapham Common Station at 1am.
As she got to the bus stop a man walked out from darkness where he was hiding behind trees on the common, she said.
At first he began staring at her but soon he began aggressively masturbating at her over the top of his trousers in front of her.
She said: “It was terrifying and disgusting. I always thought in that situation I would run but I froze.”
The incident continued for a few minutes until her bus arrived.
She bravely managed to take a photo of Black before boarding the bus and he was later arrested.
The court heard Black’s sexual offending began in 2010 when he was given a community order for exposure.
In 2017 Black, then living in Catford, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for eight counts of outraging public decency, six counts of exposure and one sexual assault.
The offences took place between July 2016 and April 2017 in Lewisham, Shoreditch and Elephant and Castle.
During the majority of the offences, Black performed obscene sexual acts towards his victims at or near a bus stop, whilst looking at their feet.
Once out of prison his offending continued with convictions in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
In 2022 he was jailed again for 14 months for pulling his trousers down and masturbating in front of a young woman in Wimbledon Common.
On that occasion a judge banned him from entering a number of parks, an order he broke by entering Clapham Common during his latest offending.
In mitigation, the court heard that Black has sought to reduce the amount of pornography he watches which he claims is a trigger for his offending.
Judge Brown sentenced him to two years in prison, as she said: “There is a need to protect the public in this case and therefore only a sentence of immediate custody is appropriate.”
After he was sentenced, Black called out to the judge: “I have been showing improvements. I know it looks disgusting but I’ve improved and now I look at females as my sisters. It was a slip.
“I know your honour is a female and you think it looks disgusting but I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.”
