A MAN is facing time in prison after he admitted to stalking and repeatedly contacting his former partner.
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The 49-year-old appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to stalking, persistently contravening a family violence intervention order, and contravening bail.
The man is contesting a sexual assault charge stemming from an alleged incident on February 14 this year.
Police alleged the man assaulted his former partner in her home after she went out with a different man. That charge will be contested in court in June.
The court heard an interim family violence intervention order was issued on March 2, with the man's former partner listed as the protected person.
The man was not allowed to contact the woman, be within 200 metres of her address, or have a different person offend for him.
On March 13, a friend of the woman gave her a letter from the man, which the woman did not open.
The next day, the man sent the woman 15 messages via a new mobile phone number.
He told the woman he had bought a new phone for work rather than to contact her after she blocked his previous number.
The man apologised to the woman and told her she "didn't need to worry about (him) harassing her".
The victim then read the letter she had received the day prior. The man said he would kill himself if he was jailed and that the woman should "think of the consequences".
About 6.40pm that day, the woman went to the Bendigo Police Station to report the offending.
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The man was arrested and questioned on March 15. He admitted to writing the letter and told police that he loved the woman.
The man was bailed from the Bendigo Magistrates' Court later that day.
The court heard on April 15, the man went to the woman's house and placed a note under her door, telling her he loved her.
Later that day, the man contacted the woman, telling her not to proceed with the criminal charges or intervention order. The man also told the woman to delete the messages he had sent.
The court heard between April 21 and April 23, the man sent the woman 65 messages and tried to call her on Facebook eight times.
The man went to the woman's house about 7.30pm on April 23, where he rang the doorbell and gave her a bottle of alcohol when she opened the door.
The next day, the man messaged the woman another 17 times and she responded by asking him to leave her alone.
The victim contacted police that day and made a statement to officers.
After she left the station, the man sent her more Facebook messages and went to her home.
He sent the woman more than 20 messages and tried to call her six times after she didn't answer the door.
That evening, the man went to the woman's house again. The court heard the man went into her backyard and tried to open the back door.
Police arrived at the property a short time later but the man fled. He turned himself into police on April 27.
Defence lawyer Luke Docherty told the court the man, who had no prior convictions, had already spent eight days in custody for the offences.
Mr Docherty said the man owned a business, had a mortgage, and a good relationship with his children from a previous relationship.
The lawyer said his client had been "clear and upfront" to police about the offending. Mr Docherty said while the offences were serious, the woman was responding to the man's calls and messages.
Prosecutor Sergeant Lindsay Riley told the court the victim contacted police several times and was clear she did not want the man at her home.
Sergeant Riley said the man was manipulating the woman to continue the relationship.
Magistrate Russell Kelly said it was clear there was communication both ways.
"The court wants to protect women from manipulative men but they need to help themselves too," Mr Kelly said.
Sergeant Kelly told the court it was "not Victoria Police's stance to engage in victim blaming".
Mr Kelly noted the man's persistent breaches of the intervention order and bail conditions.
The magistrate indicated he would sentence the man to two months in jail with a community corrections order.
The man was remanded in custody and will undergo the corrections assessment. He is due to return to court next week for sentencing on the stalking charges.
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