Magistrate Simon Cooper has pleaded guilty to seven charges of indecent assault against two boys in 1984. Source: HeraldSun
A VICTORIAN magistrate who was suspended from duty earlier this year has pleaded guilty to child sex offences.
Simon Mitchell Cooper, 55, this morning returned to his old workplace of the Melbourne Magistrates Court to plead guilty to seven charges of indecent assault committed against two boys in 1984.
Charges of attempted rape were withdrawn, but prosecutor James Pearce QC said the allegations which they related to still remained in the circumstances of the remaining charges.
"None of the allegations are withdrawn," he said.
Cooper, a former Crown prosecutor, was appointed a magistrate last year.
He was charged with the offences, which date back to the 1980s, after police searched his Brighton home and court office in January.
He had previously flagged his intention to fight the charges and was expected to begin a contested committal hearing this morning when his plea was revealed.
Cooper has been released on bail to appear in the County Court next month.
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