A Met investigation has resulted in a man being jailed for secretly filming his female lodger and making indecent images of children.
Oliver Charles Fay, 45, of Bishops Way, E2, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday, 19 May where he was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months imprisonment for six counts of voyeurism between September 2019 and August 2022; and three counts of making indecent images of children of category A, B and C.
He also received an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offender’s Register indefinitely.
Fay had previously pleaded guilty on 6 January.
In January, officers from the Met’s Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation unit executed a warrant at Fay’s home address in Bethnal Green. This followed intelligence received from the National Crime Agency that linked Fay to the upload of indecent images of children to the internet. Fay was arrested at the address for voyeurism and indecent images offences.
Unbeknownst to police, Fay had been subletting one of the rooms in his council flat to a woman after she had seen the room advertised online.
Whilst reviewing his phone officers quickly identified that Fay had been covertly recording his lodger in intimate circumstances whilst she was sleeping and in the bathroom. The various images showed that on some occasions he had hidden his mobile phone in a small black vanity drawer and the end of the bath.
His lodger was then spoken to by safeguarding officers, who have supported her throughout the investigation.
Several electronic devices belonging to Fay were seized from his bedroom and were examined whilst he was in custody. There were a total of 9831 indecent images of children present, including 1200 of which were the most serious category.
Her Honour Judge C English made the following remarks when she passed her sentence: “Anyone involved in such imagery, whether in the production, distribution or simple download is quite literally plummeting into the depths of depravity…make no mistake, anyone who downloads or views such imagery is complicit in the abuse of those children because you provide and perpetuate a marked for such material. You should be thoroughly ashamed.”
Police Constable Lindsey England, investigating officer said: “Oliver Fay used his mobile phone to take images of his lodger over a period of at least three years. This was the grossest violation of her privacy and it cannot be overstated how horrific it must have been to learn that her home had not been the safe place she thought it was. I would like to commend her bravery and I hope that she can now begin to find a degree of closure and move forward with her life.
“Fay’s sexual interests and predatory behaviour is deeply concerning and he paid no regard to the distress and humiliation that this would cause. I would like to encourage anyone who has concerns that they have been secretly recorded to please contact the Police and they will be supported.”
