Guilty: Albany man John Jeremiah Durack pleads guilty to indecent assault and common assault

Albany man John Jeremiah Durack has pleaded guilty to assaulting three female employees at a Spencer Park bakery. Durack, 65, was set to go to trial in Albany Magistrates Court last week after pleading not guilty in January to four counts of indecent assault. Prosecutors had five civilian witnesses, including the three victims, ready for the trial. However, in court on Wednesday last week, a plea offer was accepted which led to one of the charges being dropped and two downgraded. Durack, the long-time owner of Doralanes Pastries, pleaded guilty to one count of indecent assault and two counts of common assault. Police prosecutor Sgt Alan Dean said on October 21, Durack put his arm around a staff member at the bakery and then ran his hand down her back. On November 10, he brushed another female staff member across the buttocks, Sgt Dean said. Those two incidents in October and November related to the common assault charges. The indecent assault occurred between May and June last year, when another female employee was in a section of the bakery. Sgt Dean said Durack was standing in the doorway when he asked the woman for a hug. She consented to the hug, but he then ran his hands down her back and placed them on her buttocks. Durack received fines for all three offences — $1300 for each of the common assaults, and $1800 for the indecent assault. He was granted a spent conviction, despite police opposing the application.