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Former Canberra daycare worker found guilty of secretly taking photos of women's groins.

By Elizabeth Byrne

A former Canberra daycare worker has been found guilty of taking indecent images of two women visiting the centre where he worked.

Jason Stroop, 44, was charged by police in May last year, after taking images of the groin area of each of the women as they bent down.

They were both wearing clothes at the time, but were unaware of what Stroop was doing.

His lawyer Paul Edmonds argued that anyone could have seen the same thing, as the women were in a public place.

He questioned whether they could be described as indecent.

“For there to be an expectation of privacy there must be an expectation that the area will not be observed by the public,” he said.

“There was no expectation on the part of either of those persons they would not be observed.”

Photos were an invasion of privacy, judge finds

Mr Edmonds conceded it was not something either woman would have expected.

“Clearly the women did not want to be photographed,” he said.

But he said that was not the offence he client was charged with.

Magistrate Bernadette Boss found the two images did represent an invasion of privacy.

“I would find it very difficult to find they were not indecent … albeit they are images of a covered part of the female genitalia,” she said.

She found the charges against Stroop proven.

He will be sentenced next month.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.


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