A West Vancouver man who took secret photos and videos of international students with a camera hidden in an electric toothbrush charger will be free of a criminal record after completing 30 months of probation.
The 43-year-old healthcare worker, who Global News is not naming because of a ban on publishing anything that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty on June 21 to one count of voyeurism. , was given a conditional discharge last month.
The convicted voyeur’s wife, who also did not identify herself, said her husband was not home when Global News visited her home on Tuesday.
“It was definitely very traumatic for all of us,” she said.
At sentencing Oct. 26 in North Vancouver District Court, prosecutor Arianna Ward outlined the facts of the case in a mental health and pre-sentence report.
The court heard that in April 2022, the international student was housed in the man’s home and shared a bathroom with the man’s teenage daughter.
A 21-year-old man noticed that he was charging his electric toothbrush in her bathroom, even though he and his wife shared a private bathroom.
On August 28, 2022, she noticed her toothbrush was charging while her family was away on vacation and thought it was “really weird.”
When the students looked closely at the charger, they noticed that it had a small camera lens attached to it.
She unplugged the device, removed the SD card, and with the help of a friend was able to view the images on her iPad.
The student saw a video of him using the toilet and taking a shower, called West Vancouver police, and handed over the SD card to police.
Police found nine videos of students naked or half-dressed in the bathroom, along with several still images of the man trying to install the surveillance system.
The toothbrush charger monitoring device was recovered from an outdoor garbage can two days later when police executed a search warrant at the man’s home.
The man was arrested and released on a promise to appear in court at a later date and on the condition that he was not in possession of any covert video recording equipment.
On March 28, the man was found guilty of voyeurism, and the victim has since returned to Japan.
Ward told the court that the offenses occurred at a time when there were sexual intimacy issues between the man and his wife, adding that for some reason “taking the images and satisfying that urge is not harming anyone.” I felt like it wasn’t going to make any difference.” she didn’t know. ”
“He is very, very apologetic about that whole incident,” his wife told Global News on Tuesday. “It wasn’t a good time for anyone.”
The barrister recommended a suspended sentence of 30 to 36 months, noting the crime involved a “serious breach of privacy”.
His defense attorney asked for conditional release. David Tarnow cited his client’s “extreme remorse” and said it would be a tragedy for his family if he lost his job because of his criminal history.
Judge Joseph Galati said the offenses required a degree of planning and occurred over nine separate occasions, but noted the defendant had cooperated with police, pleaded guilty and had no previous convictions.
Galati told the court that conditional release after 30 months of probation was not “against the public interest.”
“I’m also happy that that’s obviously included.” [his] “It is in his best interest to avoid the stigma of his criminal history and the impact it may have on his employment,” Galati said in sentencing.
The judge said the man’s behavior was erratic and “a lack of marital intimacy appears to have contributed to the offending”.
Galati pointed out that the men are engaged in ongoing couples counseling.
When asked what she wanted the public to know about what happened, the man’s wife told Global News they were working to prevent a similar incident from happening again.
“Oh, one hundred percent, one thousand percent, one thousand percent,” she said. “I think we can only get better. What we’re working on is definitely becoming better people.”
Under the terms of his probation, the convicted voyeur must perform 50 hours of community service during the first 12 months.
After the current female students leave the school on January 1, 2024, the male students will also be prohibited from having female non-relatives living with them at home during their probation period.
Once this man completes his probation period, there is nothing to prevent him from accepting female students again.
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