Man who secretly taped women on TTC sentenced to 8.5 years
A 28-year-old man who used a cellphone to secretly take “upskirt” videos of women on the TTC and the restaurant where he worked was sentenced to 8.5 years in prison Thursday for voyeurism and several other charges, including threatening to kill and rape an ex-girlfriend after a break-up, sending child pornography to two 15-yearold girls and posting sexually explicit videos of a minor on pornography sites with her contact information.
During his trial for voyeurism, Sergio Bahamonde had claimed he paid escorts to allow him to “live out his fantasy” by filming them on the TTC. Superior Court Justice Maureen Forestell dismissed this as clearly inconsistent with what is seen in 25 short videos taken between 2018 and 2019, showing Bahamonde moving quickly to follow women in skirts.
Bahamonde pleaded guilty to a further 12 charges including threatening death, criminal harassment, child luring and distributing child pornography.
In an agreed statement of facts, Bahamonde admitted to repeatedly harassing and threatening an exgirlfriend who broke up with him in 2014.
In one email he wrote: “I will not rest until I see you squirming in pain being (sic) me to kill you. You had a choice, now face the consequences.”
In 2014 or 2015, Bahamonde, then in his early 20s, began messaging a 15-year-old girl living in the U.K. At his request, she sent him sexually explicit images and in 2016 he travelled to the U.K. where they met in person for her 17th birthday.
When the teen tried to break up with him at the end of 2017, he sent her parents a Dropbox folder containing at least 70 sexually explicit images of the girl and posted her images on pornography websites with her contact information. He also threatened to harm her and her family unless she continued to interact with him online.
In October 2018, he sent the girl a photo of his flight itinerary from Toronto to London. He was arrested by police outside her home. The police cautioned him, released him and he went back to Toronto. He continued to harass the girl and send her photos of his genitals.
In May 2019, he began messaging a 15-year-old girl on Snapchat. She told him her age and he repeatedly demanded she send topless photos, sent her sexually explicit photos of other young girls and threatened to rape and kill her. In one chat message he wrote: “When you are almost home and the rock just smashes your head imma sit there and just watch you bleed. Walk out to St Clair and get f---ing stabbed like the b--ch you are.”
He told police he was trying to educate the girl about internet safety.
The girl reported Bahamonde to the police in May 2019. A search warrant on the devices in his home led to the discovery of more than 1,000 images and videos that meet the definition of child pornography, Forestell wrote in her decision.
In victim impact statements, both teens described still fearing for their safety and the safety of their families and dealing with long-lasting trauma.
Testing by two forensic psychiatrists found that Bahamonde presents a “moderate to high risk of future sexual offence” though one opined that engaging in treatment might reduce his risk, though he would still be a risk to pubescent females.