Man spied on 11-year-old in changing room

A man who placed a camera phone underneath a cubicle at a leisure centre in Tuam where an eleven-year-old was undressing handed over €500 in compensation to the victim’s family at the local court.

A previous sitting of Tuam Court heard that while the young girl was changing her clothes at the leisure centre in Tuam, she noticed that a camera phone had been slipped under the door of her cubicle.

The 22-year-old man who placed the mobile phone underneath the door of the cubicle where the girl was undressing was prosecuted by the Gardaí for the offence.

He was convicted and Judge James Faughnan ordered a probation report on the man, warning that he could serve a lengthy period in jail. He also ordered him to pay compensation to the victim’s family.

Defending solicitor James Glynn told this week’s sitting of Tuam Court that his client Jaziel Ferreira (22) with an address at St Joseph’s Park, Tuam, had €500 in court which he borrowed from a friend.

The court was told that the defendant could not engage with the Probation Services as he was not a citizen in this country despite having lived here for eleven years.

Mr Glynn said he had been educated here but was not in receipt of social welfare payments as he was not a citizen. He had applied for citizenship and this process was now taking place. Judge Faughnan convicted him of a breach of public order and fined him €300 for the offence.

At the previous sitting it was stated that the girl was participating in activities at the Coral Leisure Centre in Tuam and went to one of the communal cubicles in the facility to get changed.

But, to her horror, she discovered that a mobile phone had been placed underneath the door of the cubical and immediately reported the matter to her mother.

The court was told that the mother of the young girl made a complaint to the Gardaí in Tuam who viewed CCTV at the centre and discovered that the defendant was the culprit. He pleaded guilty to the offence of breaching public order.

Prosecuting Sergeant Daithí Cronin said that the incident occurred when children were changing in their individual cubicles. He added that the girl immediately notified her mother about what happened.

Solicitor James Glynn said that there was nothing on his client’s phone and that everything had been deleted.