July 2010
Peeping Tom who viewed child abuse images, is jailed at Leicester Crown Court
A peeping Tom who secretly filmed his neighbour as she was getting ready for a shower has been jailed for 18 months.
Tony Osborne also took indecent pictures of a 15-year-old girl and downloaded child abuse images from the internet.
Leicester Crown Court was told the neighbour, in her 20s, was “devastated” when police told her Osborne had covertly filmed her getting changed – adding a commentary including sexual remarks – on five occasions.
Osborne (50), of Andrew MacDonald Close, Market Harborough, admitted two counts of voyeurism, between March and October last year.
He also pleaded guilty to eight counts of possessing indecent images of children, involving 56 pictures at level one – the least serious on a scale up to five – five at level two, eight at level three and five at level four.
Caroline Bray, prosecuting, said 15 of the level one images were pictures from a mobile phone of a 15-year-old girl he knew, which were downloaded to his computer.
Osborne also kept a notebook detailing child pornography websites.
Ms Bray said: “The examination of his camcorder revealed he’d secretly been filming a neighbour.
“He recorded her through her window and partially closed Venetian blinds.
“She was using that room as a dressing room before or after taking a shower.
“She was in shock, had sleepless nights and is nervous when she goes out. Her partner was also angry and upset.”
Ms Bray said the images downloaded by the defendant mostly involved girls aged between 12 and 15 but some were pre-teen and others up to about 17.
She said: “In interview he admitted having the images, saying he was curious, and denied knowing the girls were under 18.
“One of the images he was using as wallpaper on his computer was of three female children performing sex acts.”
James Thomas, mitigating, said: “He was not distributing or showing the images of his neighbour to anyone else.
“He’s embarrassed and ashamed.”
The court heard the father of three became lonely and isolated after the break-up of his 15-year marriage.
He told a probation officer, who prepared a pre-sentence report on him, that he was not sexually aroused by the images.
The report described him as being a “high risk of future sex offences.”
Judge Simon Hammond said he must bear in mind the “devastating” effect on the neighbour.
He said any right-minded person would find the child pornography on his computer “disgusting”.
Judge Hammond said: “It means somewhere in this country, or elsewhere, under-aged girls have been grossly sexually abused.”
Osborne was placed on a sexual offences prevention order, enabling the police to check his computers, and banning unsupervised contact with children.
