Young Mother Harassed on Gold Coast Beach

A young mother was groped and harrassed by a man while walking with her dog and two-year-old son at Gold Coast’s Main Beach on June 13.Laura Filliponi, 20, took to Facebook to share her experience. She said an elderly man invited her to have coffee and offered a $20 note to her toddler. Wary, Filliponi secretly began to record on her phone and film the moment when the man pushed himself against her and grabbing her breast. Filliponi said she pushed him away and he then drove away.On her way home from the beach, Filliponi spotted his car and pulled over to capture his number plates. Finding a moment of courage, she decided to say something to the man. In a second video, the man’s face is fully visible and Filliponi can be heard confronting him from outside his vehicle.“What you did back there was completely and utterly inappropriate,” she said. “I was with my son… and you’ve made me really upset.”7 News reported on June 15 that a 78-year-old man had turned himself in and had been charged in relation to the incident. Credit: Laura Filliponi