A 36-year-old registered sex offender, Babatunde Odutola, has been jailed in the United Kingdom for exposing himself and masturbating in front of a woman on a train heading to Manchester.
Odutola was sentenced to 44 weeks in prison by Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Monday after pleading guilty to outraging public decency and breaching a suspended sentence order.
The British Transport Police said the incident happened around 7pm on Friday, September 11, as Odutola travelled through Cheshire towards Manchester Piccadilly station.
According to the force, Odutola approached the woman and “looked her up and down intimidatingly” after she declined to engage with him.
He later exposed himself while sitting in a wheelchair and masturbated while staring at the woman and telling her to “come over”.
Another passenger, distressed by what was happening, escorted the woman from the carriage. CCTV footage reportedly showed Odutola continuing the act as other passengers moved through the carriage.
Police arrested him after the train arrived at Manchester Piccadilly.
Detective Constable Leonidas Christoforou said the woman, who was travelling alone, must have found the incident terrifying.
“Odutola is clearly an incredibly dangerous individual and his disturbing behaviour must have been terrifying for the victim, who he singled out when she was travelling on her own,” he said.
Police said Odutola initially denied the allegations during questioning but later pleaded guilty after investigators presented CCTV footage and witness accounts.
Christoforou said the incident was not the first involving Odutola, who was already on the sex offenders register.
“This was not a one-off from Odutola, who was already a registered sex offender, and this type of alarming, predatory behaviour simply will not be tolerated on our railways,” he said.
The British Transport Police said the investigation resulted in Odutola being jailed within 72 hours of the incident.
The force urged passengers who experience or witness sexual offences on the railway to report them by texting 61016.
