Colchester: Man convicted of indecent acts outside schools

A man has admitted carrying out indecent sexual acts in front of children outside three schools in Colchester following a thorough investigation led by community policing team officers.

Lee Murray, 39, had been due to stand trial charged with three counts of carrying out acts outraging public decency.

But he changed his pleas and admitted each charge at a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday 23 September.

An investigation led by officers with Colchester’s Community Policing Team was launched after receiving a number of reports from children.

On the first occasion, on 5 October 2022, a teenage girl was walking along a road in Colchester in the direction of a school when she noticed a vehicle parked nearby.

She spotted a man sat inside carrying out an indecent act.

Two further reports were received from children, alleging similar activity, on 11 October 2022, also in the immediate vicinity of schools.

On both occasions the children reported the man continued in his actions after noticing he had been spotted and did not look shocked or surprised.

They reported he stared at them while carrying out the act.

A description of the car, a silver Peugeot Estate, was garnered from the children alongside a detailed description of the man involved.

Officers further established Murray’s car had been caught travelling through a bus lane in Colchester on one of the dates in question.

Murray, of Hallowell Down, South Woodham Ferrers, was arrested on 17 November 2022.

He is set to be sentenced at the same court on Thursday 24 October.

'Wellbeing of child witnesses a priority'

Constable Matthew Essam, officer in the case, said:

“These were really alarming reports and we understood entirely the concern that will have been felt both by parents and school staff.
“This was a continued, troubling course of conduct undertaken by Murray.
“It is clear he chose to carry out these acts in the presence of children and was not deterred by them noticing him.
“Offences with a sexual element, threatening the safety and wellbeing of children and carried out so close to schools are utterly unacceptable and rightly resulted in a detailed and forensic investigation.
“This work included activity around CCTV, door-to-door enquiries and mobile phone evidence.
“We took these reports really seriously from the outset and ensured we traced the vehicle seen by the witnesses, leading us directly to the culprit.
“Since we secured charges, we know this case has taken a long time to reach trial.
“The witnesses have displayed courage and patience in sticking with us as we awaited the court process.
“Murray eventually and sensibly chose not to put the clear evidence against him to the test, changing his pleas to guilty on the first day of trial.”

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