A West Vancouver man who hid a camera in an electric toothbrush charger to take clandestine photos and video of an international student will avoid a criminal record if he completes 30 months of probation.
The 43-year-old health-care worker, whom Global News is not naming due to a publication ban on anything that could identify the victim, pleaded guilty to one count of voyeurism on June 21 and was sentenced to a conditional discharge last month.
The wife of the convicted voyeur, whom we are also not identifying, said her husband was not home when Global News visited his residence Tuesday.
“It’s definitely been very traumatic for all of us,” she said.
During sentencing on Oct. 26 in North Vancouver provincial court, Crown prosecutor Ariana Ward outlined the facts of the case in mental health and pre-sentence reports.
Court heard that in April 2022, the international student was placed in the man’s home where she shared a bathroom with his teenage daughter.
The 21-year-old noticed the man was charging his electric toothbrush in her bathroom even though he and his wife had an ensuite bathroom.
On Aug. 28, 2022, she noticed the toothbrush was being charged while the family was away on holiday – and found it “really odd.”
The student took a closer look at the charger and saw a small camera lens on it.
She unplugged the device, removed the SD card and with the help of a friend, was able to view the images on an iPad.
When the student saw videos recorded of her using the bathroom or taking a shower, she reported the incident to West Vancouver police and turned the SD card over to them.
Police found nine videos of the student in the bathroom – nude or partially dressed – along with some still images of the man as he was attempting to set up the surveillance system.
The toothbrush charger surveillance device was recovered from an outside garbage can when police executed a search warrant on the man’s home two days later.
The man was arrested and released on a promise to appear in court at a later date – and on the condition he does not possess covert video recording equipment.
A charge of voyeurism was approved against the man on March 28 and the victim has since returned to her home country.
Ward told the court the offence occurred during a period of the man’s life where there were some sexual intimacy issues between him and his wife and, for some reason, “he felt capturing images and satisfying those urges wouldn’t be hurting anyone as long as she didn’t know.”
“He is extremely, extremely apologetic about that whole event,” his wife told Global News on Tuesday. “It wasn’t a good time for everyone.”
Crown counsel recommended a sentence of 30 to 36 months probation, noting the offence involved a “significant invasion of privacy.”
Defence counsel asked for a conditional discharge. David Tarnow cited his client’s “extreme remorse” and said it would be tragic for his family if he lost his job due to a criminal record.
Judge Joseph Galati said the offence required a degree of planning and occurred on nine separate occasions – but also noted the accused cooperated with police, pleaded guilty and has no criminal record.
Galati told the court a conditional discharge upon the completion of 30 months probation was not “contrary to the public interest.”
The judge said the man’s actions were out of character and “it appears that a marital intimacy deficit contributed to the offending conduct.”
Galati noted the man is engaged in ongoing marital counselling.
When asked what they would like the public to know about what happened, the man’s wife told Global News they are working to make sure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.
“Oh, a hundred, a thousand per cent, a thousand per cent,” she said. “I guess we can only be better and that’s what we’re working on is to become better people for sure.”
Under his probation conditions, the convicted voyeur must perform 50 hours of community work service in the first 12 months.
After his current female student leaves on Jan. 1, 2024, the man is also not allowed to have any females outside of his extended family living at his home for the duration of his probation.
There is nothing to prevent the man from hosting female students again once he finishes his probation.
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