A serial sex pest, who used an anonymous Twitter account to share a grossly indecent videos of him sexually assaulting a sleeping London Underground passenger, has been sentenced.

Stefano Violante of North Street, Lambeth used the online alias “London-exhiboy87” to upload multiple videos of him exposing and touching himself inappropriately on the Underground.

In one of these videos, which was reported to British Transport Police, Violante is seen to sexually assault a sleeping male passenger on a late night Northern Line service in 2018.

Following a number of complex enquiries, the 31-year-old was identified by BTP detectives and arrested earlier this year. During the course of the investigation, detectives found other offensive videos in which Violante exposed himself, they were also able to link him to a pre-existing exposure incident on the Jubilee Line.

Importantly, detectives identified the victim who Violante sexually assaulted. The victim assisted officers in providing a statement, which helped in securing Violante’s prosecution.

On 13 September, the defendant appeared at Blackfriars Crown Court, where he was handed a 12 month imprisonment suspended for 24 months. He was also ordered to wear an electronic tag for forty days and pay a victim a £140 victim surcharge.

As part of his sentence, Violante must sign the sexual offenders register for ten years and is also subject to a five year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), which puts in place restrictions to prevent further offending.

DC Elaine Sexton-Thomas, from British Transport Police, said: “The videos which Violante recorded and shared online were utterly disgusting – in an attempt to disguise his perverse behaviour, he would upload his videos under an online alias. Despite this, our enquiries lead us to identify Violante and thanks to the overwhelming evidence we supplied to the court, he was forced to plead guilty to nine counts of exposure and one count of sexual assault.

“This type of disgraceful behaviour will not be tolerated and the internet is no safe haven to hide from police capture. I would like to thank those members of the public who reported Violante’s offensive videos to us, so we were able to take action and arrest him. If he continues to offend, he can expect to serve time behind bars.”

Mandy McGregor, Head of Policing and Community Safety at TfL, said: “Violante’s behaviour was predatory and disgusting. We are pleased that he has been brought to justice and the conditions of his sentencing will have an impact on his day-to-day life. This case shows that every report helps to build a picture and that every report of unwanted sexual behaviour is taken seriously and investigated.”

SHPO imposed on Violante for five years:

1. Not to travel on any London Underground, DLR or London Overground train unless having paid for the journey with either an Oyster or contactless payment card either of which are registered in his name.
2. Not to take any photograph or video using any device designated for, or capable of, sending and receiving an image (this includes all cameras, camcorders, smart phones and computer/tablet devices) save for in the course of work, in London public transport locations including buses and bus stations, underground, overground and DLR trains and stations, hire bicycles and stands.
3. Using any device capable of using the internet unless a) it has the capacity to retain and display the history of internet usage and b) he makes the makes the device available on request for inspection by a Police Officer or designated person including Police staff and Probation officers.
4. Deleting the history of any internet usage contained on any device used by him.
5. Possessing any device (including USB sticks and Memory cards) capable of storing images unless he makes it available on request for inspection by a Police Officer or designated person including Police staff and Probation officers.
6. Conditions 3 to 5 above shall not apply to computers or devices used in the course of employment at his place of work, Job Centre, Public Library or place of education (proof of the above to be made to the Police within 3 days of request).
7. Purchasing, downloading or using any evidence elimination software.