A 28-year-old man has denied groping a woman and exposing himself to her.

But he admitted to the thefts of three bottles of wine on a later date.

The man, from Devonshire, pleaded not guilty yesterday to two charges of sex assault when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court.

All incidents are alleged to have happened on December 18 last year in Devonshire.

Neither the defendant nor the victim can be named for legal reasons.

Senior magistrate Juan Wolffe, in adjourning the case until October 21, released the man on $3,000 bail and ordered him to have no contact with the alleged victim.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to the theft of two bottles of wine from A1 MarketPlace and stealing another bottle of wine from Modern Mart.

The court heard that the man entered A1 in Paget on July 3 and hid two small bottles of wine underneath his shirt.

The manager witnessed this take place and confronted him about the theft, but the defendant left the store without paying.

He then walked down the street to Modern Mart and hid another bottle of wine in his waistband.

The manager of this store confronted him as well and he left the store without paying.

Both managers reviewed CCTV footage of the thefts and reported the man to the police, who arrested the defendant on a later date.

Mr Wolffe ordered a mental health assessment for the defendant and released him on $500 bail.

The man is scheduled to return for the thefts on November 18.

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