Man caught taking upskirt photos avoids criminal record

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This article was published 03/09/2014 (4284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg man who got caught taking secret “upskirt” photos of a young woman at Walmart will not be saddled with a criminal record.

Miles Broadhurst, 34, pleaded guilty to the rare charge of voyeurism for the 2012 incident at a city store. He returned to court Wednesday for sentencing.

Provincial court Judge Brian Corrin agreed with Broadhurst’s request for a conditional discharge which spares him from having a conviction on his record, despite calling his actions a “wilful intrusion.”

Broadhurst’s lawyer argued such stigma would negatively impact his job status, noting he is the sole income earner for a young family which includes his wife and newborn baby. Both were in court Wednesday for support.

Several other letters presented to the court show him to be an otherwise “caring person, concerned and loving father and spouse, and generally a compassionate individual,” said Corrin.

A court-ordered forensic report shows Broadhurst committed the offence as a means of acting out from a “volatile and fragile emotional state.” He has no prior criminal record and was deemed a low to moderate risk to re-offend.

Broadhurst wasn’t caught right away, but only after the woman suspected she had been victimized and surveillance cameras inside the store revealed what had occurred. By then, the photos had been deleted. Police managed to recover them using forensic techniques.

The female adult victim was not in court Wednesday and did not supply an impact statement. Corrin has now ordered Broadhurst to write her a personal letter of apology as part of his sentence. He is also banned from owning a cellular phone with a camera for the next 18 months and must perform 100 hours of community service work.

“I think he has learned a needed lesson from his public shaming,” said Corrin.

www.mikeoncrime.com