Upskirt photographer jailed again
A man who used a cell phone in a shopping basket to take pictures up women’s dresses was jailed for 20 months in the Christchurch District Court today.
Maurice Hemi Williams, 32, had admitted making an intimate visual recording of four women, but only one of his victims had been identified.
Defence counsel Stephanie Blake said Williams did not have a home detention address and knew he would be staying in prison. He had been in custody since April.
She acknowledged his offending had a strong public interest factor, and infringed on the personal privacy of the general public.
She said the offending was premeditated, and people should be able to be in public and not have their rights breached.
Williams told her he thought he would be able to get some money for loading the images on-line, and was not using them for sexual gratification.
Williams had also breached a protection order, and a former supervision sentence.
Judge Gerard Winter said Williams was in a Christchurch supermarket on October 7, 2015, when he placed his cell phone in a shopping basket and moved it under the dress of a female.
He offended again twice in a supermarket on November 1, and on December 12 he was caught by a private security contractor in the Northlands shopping centre.
Judge Winter said the public had an expectation of privacy, and the victim impact report of the one woman identified said she was shocked, felt violated and taken advantage of, and did not feel comfortable shopping any more.
He said Williams had offended this way before in 2011 when he was jailed for a year.
The judge today sentenced him to 20 months in prison, with six months of post release conditions when he must he undertake any rehabilitation programme or treatment recommended by his probation officer, and he cannot possess a mobile phone that is capable of taking photographs.
Category: Focus
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