Man with an eye wear fetish put a pair of sunglasses on stranger in the street and pleasured himself


A man with a glasses fetish forced a pair of sunglasses on to a woman and pleasured himself in front of her, a court has heard.

Leon Sterba, 33, left his victim feeling “sick” and “afraid” after approaching her for directions to the opticians and placing a pair of prescription glasses on her face.

Cardiff Crown Court heard Sterba, of no fixed address, is banned from entering any opticians without an appointment due to previous offences related to his sexual attraction to women wearing glasses.

Abla O’Callaghan, prosecuting, said the woman, who cannot be named, was walking near Llandaff Bridge in Cardiff at around 5.20pm on September 28 when she was approached by the defendant.

After asking her for directions he then pulled the eyewear out of a “large bag full of glasses” before asking her whether could she see out of them.

She said: “[Sterba] stopped, took a pair of glasses out of the bag he was holding and said to her ‘can you see out of these?’, immediately placing a pair of dark prescription spectacles on her face.

“She looked through the glasses and described them being as being quite strong.”

The court heard how within a “matter of seconds”, Sterba replaced the sunglasses with a second, darker, pair from a bag containing women’s glasses of different sizes and styles.

Ms O’Callaghan said: “The complainant noticed he had transferred the bag to his left hand and placed the bag in front of his groin area shielding it from her view.

“She could see his hand moving up and down in his trousers. He was moaning and making noises whilst doing so.”

In a victim impact statement read in court the victim described how the incident left her feeling “sick”.

She said: “After I think about the incident it makes me feel quite sick. When I told my friend I laughed but when I think about it it makes me feel quite afraid.

“This incident took place next to Glantaf and Pencae schools. I know this incident could easily have taken place with a child.”

The incident was described as the latest in a series of offences committed by the defendant relating to asking woman to put on glasses and masturbating.

A number of incidents also included asking women to turn on the windscreen wipers in their cars.

In 2014 Sterba asked a 86-year-old woman to turn on the windscreen wipers of her car before placing a pair of industrial safety glasses over her face.

Sterba is currently subject to a sexual offences prevention order which will end next year and an indefinite criminal behaviour order.

Sterba, who spoke through a Czech interpreter, pleaded guilty to one count of outraging public indecency and breaching a criminal behaviour order.

Sentencing, Recorder Catherine Richards described the incident as a “targeted” offence.

She said: “Your crimes are not victimless.

“In 2015, you were convicted of two offences relating to two different women.

“In 2018, your GP records indicate your behaviour was regarded as getting out of control.

“This culminated on September 28 when you asked the victim in this case for directions.”

Sterba was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, half of which will be served in custody before serving a further 12 months on licence.

But an application to impose a sexual harm prevention order on the defendant was rejected.

Jude Richards said: “I find this was a planned offence. You had a bag full of glasses with you and you targeted a lone woman walking home.

“This behaviour makes people fear walking home in their community which they have an absolute right to do.”