Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Sex creep Anderson avoids jail over secret recordings
Victim of Voice star slams sentence
A FORMER Ulster contestant on The Voice who admitted secretly recording women for his own sexual gratification has been spared jail.
As well as pleading guilty to 11 counts of voyeurism spanning from 2005 to 2013, Jeff Anderson also admitted sexually assaulting a woman.
The 29-year-old was handed a threeyear sentence suspended for three years after appearing at a remote hearing of Downpatrick Crown Court yesterday.
One of his victims said she was left “devastated” after he walked free.
She added: “I feel sick, sickened and disgusted that this creep was not jailed today. What he did has haunted me for years – and I am not alone.
“Any sense of privacy and security I ever had was destroyed by Jeff Anderson when he secretly recorded me in a bathroom.
“It has taken a long time to get to this day and I’m devastated but I can tell you, my fight for justice is not over.”
Other victims, some of whom were teenagers when recorded and those who were filmed doing private acts in the bathroom, also attended the videolink hearing.
They heard Anderson, from Shore Road in Kircubbin, Co Down, suffered a medical condition linked to erectile dysfunction in his younger years.
He explained making and viewing the secret recordings of the women “helped him achieve arousal”.
Anderson became a household name when he appeared on The Voice after years of singing and acting roles.
After his arrest he continued his musical career working with bands and on cruise ships. He is currently employed writing jingles for his father’s advertising company. The victims described Anderson as portraying himself as outwardly confident and sexually experienced but who was also controlling and coercive.
Judge Geoffrey Miller said when the accused’s voyeurism emerged, the women felt embarrassed and disgusted at what he did.
He added the stress was exacerbated by Anderson’s initial denials and not knowing whether he had shared his recordings with anyone else. The accused also admitted assaulting another woman in October 2015.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and was made the subject of a 10-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Anderson found fame on The Voice and was nicknamed “Baby Jesus” during a tour of Jesus Christ Superstar after appearing in a talent show for the role. Det Chief Insp Ian Wilson praised the victims’ bravery, adding: “I hope their tenacity to bring this man to justice will encourage anyone else who has experienced sexual abuse to come forward to police.”
COURT YESTERDAY