School bus ex-driver on stalking teen count

A 56-year-old former school bus driver has been released on bail after being charged with the aggravated stalking of a teenage girl he used to drive to school. Wandina man Thomas Charles Roberts was arrested and held in custody overnight from Monday, having allegedly approached a 16-year-girl twice in the past two months, on one occasion telling her he had been trying to find her. Police prosecutor Acting Sgt Beau Jones told Geraldton Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday that in 2016, Mr Roberts was the alleged victim’s Geraldton school bus driver, but he had not had contact with her since. Acting Sgt Jones said Mr Roberts approached the teenage girl on Christmas Day at a Geraldton beach and asked her name and if she remembered him. She reported the conversation made her feel uneasy and when she asked him how his Christmas was, he allegedly responded by saying, “better now I have seen you”. She also told police he had told her he had been trying to find her, asked if she still lived at a specific address, and told her he wanted to take her out to lunch. Acting Sgt Jones said the teenager was wearing a bikini and Mr Roberts allegedly said to her “let me get a closer look at you” before looking her up and down. On January 16, the alleged victim visited the same beach with her boyfriend and saw the accused at the water’s edge and started to leave. The accused yelled at the pair not to be alarmed and to calm down, and later, as they were leaving, to “show some respect”. The pair allegedly ran to their car and attended the police station to report the incident. It is also alleged the couple and the girl’s mother encountered the man several more times that day, including at KFC, where the staff let the physically upset teenage girl behind their security door to call her mother. Mr Roberts is alleged to have written down the mother’s number plate and asked her for their last name. Acting Sgt Jones told the court that last year Mr Roberts also allegedly tried to contact the girl by driving to the house he thought she lived at, left a business card in the mailbox, searched for her on social media with a hashtag of “find” and her first name, and inquired about prices for advertising in the Geraldton Guardian. Police say Mr Roberts was arrested on Monday at his Wandina home and, when questioned by police, told them he had a spiritual connection with the alleged victim, loved her, and liked “Lolita” girls aged between 13 and 16. He appeared twice the next day in court, with the matter initially adjourned so he could undergo a mental health assessment, which concluded he was not in need of psychiatric care. Magistrate Chris Miocevich granted Mr Roberts bail — which police opposed — at $5000, ordering that he report to the police station daily and attend a mental health clinic. He was banned from holding or applying for a firearms licence and using social media, and had a restraining order placed against him forbidding him from contacting the girl for two years. He is due to reappear in court on February 11.