Employee filmed in shower at workplace

A MAN has pleaded guilty to filming a female staff member multiple times while she was in the shower at his Gold Coast business.

Brenton Michael Riley, 33, pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court today to observing or recording in breach of privacy, possess explosives and breaching bail.

Riley also faces charges including assault occasioning bodily harm and indecently actions with intent to insult or offend. They were adjourned to a later date.

The court heard Riley filmed a female staff member in the shower multiple times between May 2016 and May 2017. She would stay at the Ashmore business if working late to avoid driving home to Brisbane.

The police prosecutor told the court Riley filmed the woman with a covert “coat hanger camera” which “depicted her completely naked with genitalia and breasts exposed”.

The court heard the victim only became aware of the filming when another staff member at Riley’s audio visual production company discovered the footage on a computer.

Police searched Riley’s van and discovered covert footage in a memory card inside a cardboard box labelled “clothes hook camera”. It held three recordings of the victim showering, the court heard.

As a result of the recordings the police prosecutor told the court Riley’s former staff member’s physical, mental and emotional health “suffered severely”.

“She feels reticent to engage with or trust others, she’s become reclusive and has ongoing problems with sleep and appetite,” he told the court.

Defence lawyer Lisa Searing, from Buckland Allen Criminal Lawyers, told the court Riley claimed he did not view the footage he recorded and had no similar offences on his criminal history.

Magistrate Kerrie O’Callaghan gave Riley a one-month suspended prison sentence in relation to the breach of privacy.

The maximum penalty for the offence is two years in prison.

Riley also pleaded guilty to breaching bail and possessing a shot gun pellet and was fined $100 for possession.