A small crowd gathered outside of Surrey provincial court Thursday advocating for survivors of sexual abuse.
The group wore teal ribbons, which are a sign of support for sexual assault survivors, holding signs which read #MeToo, We never asked for it, No Means No and chanting "no more victims." They also had child-sized T-shirts with adult hand prints on them that were placed around the entrance to the courthouse.
The individuals were there to attend the sentencing hearing of Thomas Charles Cooper, 54.
Cooper was found guilty on May 15 after a two-day hearing in Surrey provincial court. He had been charged with committing indecent exposure in a public place after two women reported that a man had exposed himself to them in Guildford Shopping Centre on July 4, 2022.
Cooper hid his face from the crowd as he entered the courthouse Thursday morning before sentencing.
Both the Crown and defence recommended a straight 90-day sentence, a recommendation accepted by the judge. Lopes found Cooper's act to have been a "deliberate" exposure, noting the impact on the victims.
“The two victims have had to live with the consequences of Mr. Cooper's offending behaviour for the last two years, including going through the court process. My hope for them both is that the sentencing of Mr. Cooper today will bring about closure,” Lopes said.
The Crown read victim impact statements during the sentencing. A publication ban covers the victims' names.
One of the victims noted that the incident had impacted her sense of self, feelings of safety and ability to trust people and the world around her. It has also impacted her relationship with her father.
The other avoids Guildford Town Centre Mall when she can and characterizes the day the incident exposure happened and the court proceedings as traumatizing.
Lopes added, “Mr. Cooper's offending must be denounced and deterred, both specifically and generally. Every member of our community deserves to be able to exist in public spaces and not be at risk to unwanted nudity. The trauma caused to the victims in this case showed that the impact of indecent exposure destroys feelings of safety and security."
“I am sentencing Mr. Cooper for the deliberate exposure of his penis at Guildford mall on July 4, 2022 in Surrey. I found that Mr. Cooper changed his shorts to facilitate the offence. He exposed his penis twice while in the mall, “ Lopes said.
Cooper was taken into custody after the sentencing hearing concluded.
After completing his 90-day sentence, Cooper will be on probation for 18 months with conditions including not having any contact with the two victims or being within 100 metres of where they live, work, attend school, worship or happen to be. He is also prohibited from visiting Guildford Town Centre mall.
Cooper must also pay a victim surcharge within six months.
After the sentence was read, a person in the gallery said, through tears, "It’s about time.”
An individual, who was not directly connected to the trial and cannot be named, spoke with the Now-Leader after the sentencing.
“I was disappointed but relieved. At the same time, it's very conflicting on how I'm supposed to feel, how we're all are supposed to feel about this. We were really hoping for a longer sentence. At the same time, we're really relieved that this sentence is a little bit more serious than last time — at least, it's not intermittent. It's full 90 days in jail, which is the least he deserves,” they said.
The individual felt disappointed with people who had stood by Cooper and did not believe the victims.
Another individual said, “I strongly believe that it's not going to make very much of a difference because of how short of a sentence it was.”
This is not Cooper's first conviction.
In 2014, he pleaded guilty to sexual interference in connection to an incident that happened at Dell Lanes the year before. (Cooper was the co-owner of the popular local bowling alley, which later closed down in March 2024.) In February 2013, Cooper had given a 15-year-old girl a shoulder massage, which progressed into fondling her breasts. The incident ended when someone else entered the room.
He was sentenced in August 2014 to a 90-day jail sentence that was served on the weekends.
“Even though it was 10 years ago, It still follows us to this day. We still face the same challenges. To this day I still can't keep a job. My life is basically revolved around this and the trauma it's caused," the individual said.
