A man has been jailed after being caught secretly filming a female lodger’s bathtub at her home in east London.
Oliver Charles Fay, 45, was investigated after being linked to the upload of horrific indecent images of children.
Officers from Scotland Yard’s Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation unit raided Fay’s home address in Bethnal Green.
There police found Fay had been subletting one of the rooms in his council flat to a woman after he advertised it online.
On investigation it was found Fay had been covertly recording his lodger in intimate circumstances whilst she was sleeping and in the bathroom.
Images revealed he had hidden his mobile phone in a small black vanity drawer at the end of the bath.
Fay was arrested at the address for voyeurism and indecent images offences.
Several electronic devices belonging to Fay were seized from his bedroom and were examined whilst he was in custody. There were a total of 9,831 indecent images of children present, including 1,200 of which were the most serious category.
Jailing Fay for 2 years and 10 months Judge C English said: “Anyone involved in such imagery, whether in the production, distribution or simple download is quite literally plummeting into the depths of depravity...make no mistake, anyone who downloads or views such imagery is complicit in the abuse of those children because you provide and perpetuate a marked for such material.
“You should be thoroughly ashamed.”
PC Lindsey England, investigating officer added: “Oliver Fay used his mobile phone to take images of his lodger over a period of at least three years.
“This was the grossest violation of her privacy and it cannot be overstated how horrific it must have been to learn that her home had not been the safe place she thought it was. I would like to commend her bravery and I hope that she can now begin to find a degree of closure and move forward with her life.
“Fay’s sexual interests and predatory behaviour is deeply concerning and he paid no regard to the distress and humiliation that this would cause.
“I would like to encourage anyone who has concerns that they have been secretly recorded to please contact the Police and they will be supported.”
Fay, of Bishops Way, E2, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 19 May where he was sentenced for six counts of voyeurism between September 2019 and August 2022; and three counts of making indecent images of children of category A, B and C.
He also received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.
