A former aide to Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been spared jail after exposing himself to a teenage girl and following her. The 33-year-old from Essex performed sex acts in public in front of a teenage girl.
Samuel Gould, 33, of Hornchurch, who was also a councillor in Redbridge, was seen by the 13-year-old girl masturbating in his parked car in Romford on March 8. Gould then followed the girl, who hid and knocked on nearby flats to try and get help, prosecutors say.
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He was also seen by a woman masturbating while he was seated in a Mini Cooper with the windows down on Patricia Drive in Hornchurch on February 9, Barkingside Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday.
Gould was made subject to a seven-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) meaning he cannot contact girls under 18. He must pay £239 in legal costs.
Prosecutor Jeannel Ambrose said the teenager was alone when she saw Gould masturbating in the driver’s seat while parked with the windows down. The girl said she ran and also ducked behind bushes, believing the car was following her, the court heard.
Ms Ambrose said the girl also knocked at nearby flats to get help, but nobody answered. The teenager said she also saw Gould following her “on foot”, the court heard. She asked for help from others, and the police were called.
Ms Ambrose said Gould specifically targeted a “particularly vulnerable victim”. The second victim felt “distressed and violated” after she saw Gould masturbating while she was walking her dog, the court heard.
Ms Ambrose said she took his vehicle registration before reporting him to police. Gould resigned from his roles with Mr Streeting and Redbridge Council and was suspended from the Labour Party after his conviction.
Mr Streeting previously said: “There are no words to express my horror that a mother and her daughter have been put through this ordeal, and will have to deal with the trauma of it for some time to come. As soon as I was made aware of his arrest he was suspended, and as soon as the guilty plea was entered I took immediate steps to sack him through official HR processes.”
Nicholas Jennaway, defending, said Gould had been going through difficulties at work and his personal life at the time of the incidents. Mr Jennaway said that Gould followed the girl in a “very panicked state” to try to talk to her, having not seen her approaching.
He said that Gould, a “shy, introverted person” and a man of previous good character, “apologises profusely” for the harm caused. Gould accepts that his role in public service means he is held to a “higher standard”, Mr Jennaway said.
District Judge Paul Donegan sentenced Gould to 22 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty at the same court last month to two counts of exposure.
