Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Investment boss who hid iPhone in work showers to film naked women colleagues is spared prison 'because he won't get the counselling he needs'



An investment director who hid a phone in work showers to make secret films of female colleagues has been spared jail.
Nigel Parsons, 34, was handed a three-year supervision order and sent on a sex offenders course because a judge ruled that he would not get the help he needs in prison.
Parsons had admitted two counts of voyeurism after rigging up an iPhone in a bathroom at top investment advisors Bestinvest to capture female coworkers as they undressed.
Southwark Crown Court heard that his sordid plot was uncovered when a member of staff spotted the phone and found recordings of herself and two other members of staff naked in the shower.
Sentencing Parsons, judge Anthony Leonard said: 'The use of a hidden camera to film work colleagues showering or changing is a despicable offence, amounting to an invasion of their privacy.
'I have no doubt that the offences are serious enough to merit a custodial sentence, but I am not able to pass one of the length that would ensure you receive the counselling and therapy I judge you would need.'
Instead, Parsons was handed a supervision order, told to complete a 120-hour sex offenders course and will also be under nightly curfew for the next five months.
Parsons was identified because he had filmed himself setting up and adjusting the device.
Two recordings were made between February 17 and 21 of this year at the Bestinvest headquarters in  Mayfair, central London.
Prosecutor Peter Zinner said: 'Three young women were filmed over the course of two days.
'They were not only shocked they were being filmed but distressed that this was done to them by a senior colleague who they worked with and trusted and liked.'
Parsons pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism at an earlier hearing at Southwark Crown Court.
He also admitted making or possessing 61 indecent images of children, all aged under-10 and distributing one image.
These included images of sadism against children, as well as extreme sexual abuse.
Judge Leonard said: 'The images show depravity on your part, and also show a lack of human understanding for the suffering endured by these children, caused by your demand for the photos.'
John Armstrong, defending, said Parsons had lost his job and been unable to find more work within the financial industry.
He was also thrown out by his wife and is now only allowed supervised contact with his daughter at weekends.
He claims to have given up looking at child porn after her birth in February 2011.
According to Bestinvest's website the firm has won several awards including UK Wealth Manager of the Year 2011 and Self-Select ISA Provider of the Year 2011.
It also states: 'The company is one of the fastest-growing private client advisory firms and is proud to support the NSPCC.'
Parsons, of High Wycombe, Bucks, pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, ten counts of making indecent images, one count of distributing an indecent image, and one count of possessing indecent images.
Dailymail.co.uk

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