Update: Feb 6, 5pm PT
Victoria Police have reached out to Webworm with a statement:
Attributable to a Victoria Police spokesperson:
Victoria Police has charged a man following a sexual assault in Port Melbourne.
Police allege the 43-year-old man sexually assaulted a 40-year-old male while on the Bay Trail at Sandridge Beach in Port Melbourne at about 6pm on Monday 3 February 2025.
The man, from Macedon, has been charged with sexual assault by compelling sexual touching and public nuisance.
He has been bailed to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 24 April 2025.
It’s alleged the man also committed the same offence the following day on a victim in Cairnlea and verbally-threatened a passer-by who attempted to intervene.
The investigation into this offence remains ongoing.
Police have spoken to this man about his behaviour on numerous occasions and have previously laid criminal charges.
We treat incidents of this nature with the utmost seriousness and urge anyone subjected to such behaviour to come forward and make an official report to police.
Reports can also be made via the Crime Stoppers Victoria website.
In an emergency, always call Triple Zero (000).
Hi,
This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.
The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first done here on Webworm in October last year — and saw me talking to more victims in Melbourne, who all felt they had been manipulated into physical touching they weren’t comfortable with.
Many talked of feeling violated.
I also found out that this has been going on for at least 12 years.
When I first reached out to Victoria police in October, they at first seemed puzzled about what I was talking about. A week later, after I shared some of my reporting, they stated they were “aware of a man [...] who it’s alleged pretends to have seizures to then inappropriately touch people who go to his aid.”
They also revealed they had “spoken with this man about his behaviour” in August — but have never, ever received a formal complaint about these incidents.
Charges Have Now Been Laid
Well, today Webworm can report that a man has been charged with “sexual assault by compelling sexual touching” and “public nuisance” in Melbourne, Australia. The charges were laid on Monday.
Webworm has been in touch with the latest victim, who outlined an M.O. that sounded all too familiar: A man fell down in front of him, appeared to be having spasms, then asked to be sat on and restrained.
The man has been released on bail and will appear in Court on April 24.
Fake Seizure Guy’s Friend E-mails Me
As you’ll hear in the podcast episode, I got a strange email shortly after I published my original Webworm story on October 22.
The emailer claimed to be Fake Seizure Guy’s friend:
I know the ‘fake seizure guy’ really well. I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the past few years.
He has really severe autism.
He is completely harmless. He would never sexually assault anyone. He simply does not know that his behaviour is unacceptable to people like us.
The reason he asks people to 'sit' on him and restrain him is that he is 'stimming'. He's trying to get what is called 'Deep Pressure Stimulation', which is a common symptom of those who have severe autism (e.g., enjoying weighted blankets or hugs). I've attached a link where you can get more information:
https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisedu.org/what-is-deep-pressure-stimulation/
I am worried that your article might inspire vigilantism in Melbourne. As you are aware, he has become a boogeyman on Reddit, and a lot of people are talking about how he is a dangerous sexual predator, which is not true.
He is disabled and I assure you that he is harmless. And our community has a responsibility to look after people with disabilities and keep them safe.
I’m keen to chat more. Let me know when you receive this email.
This stopped me in my tracks, and made me reassess the whole situation.
Were the motivations of Fake Seizure Guy nothing more than rumour and conjecture? Were all the fake seizures just a need for deep pressure stimulation?
Assuming this is true, it doesn’t negate the fact that the man is putting both himself and the public in danger, by misleading them about what they’re doing, and why.
On the spectrum or not, this behaviour is dangerous — and some kind of intervention by caregivers or the authorities is clearly needed.
With all this in mind I replied to the “friend”, asking if we could talk some more.
I requested more details. How did they know him? Did he have any concern for his friend’s safety, given the way he was conducting himself with strangers? Could I talk to someone more directly involved? Did the man have any kind of care or help?
My questions went unanswered.
I tried again. It seemed like out of anyone, the man’s friend would have the answers I needed.
They never replied to me.
To Stim or Not to Stim
Things took another turn when I looked further into “stimming”, talking to a behavior technician and grad student studying ABA - applied behavior analysis (an area of study that is controversial in its own right):
“Deep pressure stimulation is something that is known about in the Applied Behavior Analysis community because it has mountains of scientific evidence backing it up
“Stimming” is when a person on the spectrum does what we call “stereotypic” behaviors - behavior that has no environmental purpose but is self-reinforcing.
In general, there's nothing wrong with stimming and most ABA therapists don't interfere with stimming. Some clients need guidance to learn when and where they can do certain types of stimming and many clients stim from frustration - ABA helps them learn to navigate overwhelming feelings like that so they can move forward rather than do nothing but stim.”
This is where it gets interesting:
“Any person on the spectrum would probably tell you the same thing I’m telling you:
People who stim don't go around asking strangers to get involved with their stimming, in fact that's part of the point of stimming — it helps block outside stimulation that is overwhelming the client.
Conclusion: whoever wrote you that email may have actually been fake seizure guy.
Or they may have convinced themselves they know what's going on, and they are defending a poor autistic person. Either way, that email was wildly incorrect. Whoever he is and no matter what his neuro-status, he’s not “stimming” when he does that.”
The Police Stay Quiet
I still find it hard to believe that this has been going on for over a decade, and that until this week no formal complaint has ever been made.
I reached out to police for comment, and they had this to say:
If this latest incident led to a charge of “sexual assault by compelling sexual touching”, what does that say about what happened to all the other victims I’ve been talking to — victims who have stories that stretch back over a decade?
Stories that appear to have been largely ignored by Melbourne police for a very, very long time.
Maybe there’s something in the throwaway comment Melbourne resident Hannah said to me:
“There’s so much weird behaviour in Melbourne that somehow no one has the capacity or ability to change. Did you hear about Meat Lady while you were here?”
More on Meat Lady another day.
David.
PS: a short PSA
Anyone who actually has a real seizure should never be sat on. As a disability advocate told Webworm, “It’s important that people know restraining someone or laying on them during a seizure could result in serious injury or even death.”
The CDC guidelines make it clear:
Remove anything near them that can cause an injury.
Check to see if they are wearing a medical bracelet for information about any medical conditions, medicines, and emergency contacts.
If the person is lying down, turn them gently on their side, with their mouth pointing to the ground. This will keep their airway clear.
Time the seizure to track if it lasts more than 5 minutes. If it does, seek immediate medical attention or call 911.
When the seizure is over, help them sit in a safe place to recover.
Once they are alert, comfort them and explain what happened.
Offer to call a friend or loved one to help them get home safely.
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