A man who set up hidden cameras to secretly film women has been jailed for three years.
Edward Parker, 29, installed cameras at private addresses in Bristol, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield and Hampshire to film women in bedrooms or bathrooms.
He admitted 16 charges, including 12 of observing a person doing a private act, three of making an indecent or pseudo photograph of a child and one of possessing a prohibited image of a child.
Parker, of Pitville Circus Road, Cheltenham, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court and was also made subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Passing sentence, Deputy Circuit Judge Douglas Field said Parker secretly filmed women for his own “perverted sexual gratification” and said the offences had “deeply affected” his victims.
Detective Constable Abigail Carey, who led the investigation, said: “When we examined Parker’s computer we found more than 800 indecent images of children, some in the most serious category, as well as prohibited images consisting of an animated child abuse ‘story’.
“We also found he had encrypted areas of his computer and evidence that he had accessed the so-called dark web.
“His file history showed he accessed files with child abuse titles between 2013 and 2015.
“Significantly, we discovered movie files from cameras Parker had set up to secretly film women at private addresses.
“It was clear the women in the footage did not know they were being filmed.
“Parker was interviewed about the material found on his computer and denied deliberately accessing child abuse material.
“He also refused to provide names of any of the women in the footage he filmed, but claimed they had consented to being filmed.
“We used a variety of investigative techniques to identify and locate the women who had been filmed and managed to identify six victims, including one who no longer lives in the UK.
“All the victims were extremely upset about what Parker had done and his actions have had a significant impact on each of them.
“He has shown no remorse for his actions and up until admitting the offences at court has refused to help us with our inquiry.
“Parker is a manipulative and deceptive offender and I welcome the prison sentence given today.
“I hope this sentence will help reassure the victims and help them move forward following their ordeals.”