The 52-year-old’s actions were described by a judge as ‘grotesque’ and a ‘violation’ of his victim’s privacy and dignity
A man who installed a hidden camera in a bottle of Lynx to enable him to spy on a teenage girl was jailed today.
The 52-year-old, who can’t be named due to a reporting restriction, was handed a 12-month sentence for a charge of voyeurism.
An additional six-month consecutive sentence was imposed for possessing indecent images of children.
As well as being jailed for a total of 18 months, the defendant was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years. As he imposed the sentence at Belfast Crown Court, Judge Neil Rafferty KC paid tribute to the victim for the bravery and dignity she has displayed.
The voyeurism offence dates back to September 11 last year, when whilst taking a shower the teenage girl noticed a bottle of Lynx with a hole cut out of it. The hole in the Lynx bottle was facing the shower and feeling this was unusual, she positioned a bottle of shampoo in front of it.
Later that day, she noticed that the Lynx bottle had been moved to the landing and after examining it, she found a tiny camera facing the hole which was held in place with two pieces of sponge.
Realising this was an issue, she took pictures of what she had seen in the Lynx bottle and sent them to a female relative via WhatsApp. The relative assisted her and the teenager subsequently contacted the PSNI.
As a result of what she told police, the bottle was seized along with the defendant’s phone. Both items underwent forensic examination and located on his mobile were 33 indecent images of children.
Judge Rafferty noted that whilst the number of images was relatively low, some included graphic depicts of children being sexually abused. Following his arrest, the defendant admitted possessing the images on his phone but denied filming the teenage girl for sexual purposes.
The Judge said this was “obviously wrong” as he subsequently pleaded guilty to a charge of voyeurism for sexual gratification. He added that whilst the defendant has no criminal record, this was a case involving “high harm and high culpability.”
Branding the defendant’s actions as “grotesque” and a “violation” of his victim’s privacy and dignity, Judge Rafferty said: “It is clear that it has had a very significant impact on her.”
As well as being jailed and placed on the Sex Offenders Register, the defendant was also made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for a period of ten years.
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