A peeping Tom, who was caught trying to spy on a Perthshire schoolgirl while she showered, has avoided jail.
Model train enthusiast Carl Fisher concealed a camera under a pile of laundry in the 15-year-old’s bathroom.
But the youngster discovered the device when she kicked the clothes with her foot.
A black piece of tape had been stuck on the camera to hide its red recording light, Perth Sheriff Court heard.
During his trial, Fisher tried to claim he had accidently left his camera in the girl’s bathroom.
He said he had used the black tape because the red light had marred his homemade train set videos.
He told the court he had received abuse about the camera light from fellow enthusiasts online.
Convicted
Fisher, 54, was found guilty in November of using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices towards the youngster in April 2008.
He appeared in court for sentencing via video link from his home in Paignton, Devon.
Some of his model trains were visible on shelves behind him.
Sheriff Pino di Emidio told him: “This is a matter of some seriousness.
“The impression I had at the trial, having heard all of the evidence, is that aside from the distress that had been caused to the complainer and the other members of her family, it seems clear to me that this incident had considerable repercussions over a period of time.
“Those repercussions affected you as well.”
The sheriff said: “In a way, Mr Fisher has paid a considerable price already.”
Fisher, a delivery driver for Tesco, was ordered to carry out 110 hours of unpaid work and was placed on supervision for two years.
He must comply with the Maps for Change rehabilitation programme for sex offenders.
And he will remain on the Sex Offender’s Register for two years.
Red light covered up
During the trial, Fisher denied the allegations.
When asked about the black tape on the camera, he said that he had been getting grief from other model train fans online.
“I had been filming by train layout,” he said.
“Trains don’t go through red lights.
“I had been criticised online about the red light, so I had put some tape over it.”
Girl found camera in clothes pile
The girl told the trial Fisher had used the bathroom before she went in to shower.
She described hearing a tearing sound, which she said may have been the tape.
Inside the bathroom, she saw the pile of clothes on the floor and kicked them and “felt something solid”.
She picked up the camera, which was recording, and went to confront Fisher.
Fisher later confessed what he had done to the girl’s mother.
After the two-day trial in November, he was convicted of entering the girl’s bathroom – knowing that she was about to have a shower – and secreting a camera within a pile of clothing “affording a view of the bathroom” with the intention of recording the teenager while she was in a state of undress.
