Inverness youth worker who secretly filmed a girl getting ready for bed avoids jail sentence
An Inverness former youth worker who filmed a teenage girl through a window as she prepared for bed escaped a jail sentence at the city’s sheriff court.
Andrew Jessiman (44), of Upper Myrtlefield, appeared for sentence after being found guilty by a jury following his trial in August on the voyeurism offence and a public indecency charge by committing a solo sex act in a room where he could be seen from outside.
The voyeurism charge alleged he filmed the girl with the intention of viewing the “private act”.
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Defence solicitor Kelly Duling asked Sheriff Gary Aitken not to jail her client, telling him background reports indicated there was a low liklihood of repeat offending, he has no previous convictions and that because of his offending he had lost his career, his home, his friends and “his life”, and this had to be weighed against the inevitable impact on his victims.
She added that Jessiman was also carer for his chairbound father.
The trial heard that police had gone to his address and found a video camera with the secretly filmed recording in a cupboard there.
Sheriff Aitken told Jessiman that in light of the evidence he heard during the trial, the jury’s verdict could have come as little surprise to him.
He added: “I am just persuaded that the matter can be dealt with by a non-custody disposal.”
Jessiman was placed under a two-year supervision order, was placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register for a similar period, and ordered to complete the Moving Forward 2 Change programme.
Jessiman, a former High Life Highland youth development officer, was convicted by the jury following two days of evidence, after which they reached their verdict in less than two hours.
There was no suggestion during the trial that Jessiman’s crimes were committed during the course of his work.
The filming victim, who was aged over 16 at the time of the filming between September 2017 and September 2019, felt Jessiman’s actions were “disgusting” and “violating,” the jury was told.
The public indecency charge related to dates between 2016 and 2019 and detailed how Jessiman exposed his genitals and carried out a solo sex act whilst naked in a room with the curtains open and the lights on.
In his evidence during his trial, Jessiman said he had no recollection of making the film but conceded that he could have done, adding: “It had no significance to me whatsoever.”
