Co-worker filmed in bathroom by stalker

A FINANCIAL planner followed a colleague home for a week and filmed her while she was in the bathroom at work.

When a neighbour caught him on the woman’s balcony, he fell and broke his leg.

That was when Peter James Eason admitted to police he had been following the woman home from work for a week.

Eason pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday to unlawful stalking and making observations or recordings in breach of privacy.

The 47-year-old walked from court on a three-year probation order with no conviction recorded.

The decision not to record a conviction was made so Eason could open a business with help from the federal government’s New Enterprise Incentive Scheme.

Magistrate Cameron McKenzie said: “I must acknowledge again your awful behaviour against an innocent co-worker. She didn’t ask for this attention and will most likely suffer in the future.”

Eason wore gloves when he went to the woman’s home and delved into her social media accounts to ensure the furniture on social media matched that in the home he was observing, the court was told.

He told police he had also planted a camera in a toilet cubicle at work to catch her in the bathroom. Between eight and 10 recordings were made.

Throughout the sentencing Mr McKenzie described the offending as “abhorrent”, “deliberate”, “sophisticated”, “a gross invasion of the victim” and “concerning acts”.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Glenn Whittle said Eason’s actions in April and May last year could “only be described as a gross invasion of privacy”.

Defence lawyer Bill Siganto, of LegalAid Queensland, said: “This is frankly bizarre; I’ll concede something deeply disturbing has taken place.”

He said Eason was looking to start his own financial planning business and would need assistance from the federal government’s funding scheme.

Eason lost his job after the charges came to light.

Mr Siganto said Eason had symptoms of a sex addiction and hypersexuality, and police would have not been aware of the full extent of his offending if he had not made admissions.