Worthing voyeurism victim speaks out after man given caution

The woman said she had been filmed while being intimate with her boyfriend last month, by a man using a camera on a pole.

Police seized the suspect’s electronics and arrested him but he was not charged. A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a 35-year-old man was arrested and interviewed in relation to a report of voyeurism at an address in Worthing on November 20.

“Officers attended the suspect’s address and conducted a search; a number of electrical devices were seized and there was no evidence of any further offences.

“Having reviewed the matter and having carried out a threat, harm and risk assessment, the suspect received a police caution as he fully admitted the offence.

“We have engaged with the victim and kept her updated throughout the investigation. We appreciate that this has been traumatic for her and we have explained the rationale for our decision.”

The victim, who has a legal right to anonymity, said she was dismayed when the perpetrator was not taken to court for a ‘serious sex offence’.

“It sort of feels like he got away with it,” she said. “I have to deal with that sense of embarrassment and loss of privacy.

“At the time, it was a total of invasion of privacy and I was so shaken up by it for for the first few days. I was really panicky after it happened and it had quite a significant effect on me.

"When he got a caution, it was quite shocking. It feels like next to no repercussion for what he did.”

She added the incident was the ‘most disturbing thing I’ve ever had happen to me’. “I never thought it would be possible for that to to happen,” the victim said. “I was just so shocked and stunned when I saw that phone outside my window.”

SussexWorld submitted a Freedom of Information request to Sussex Police, asking how many perpetrators of voyeurism had been charged and how many were dealt with by caution over the past ten years.

The data requested was only available from January 1, 2016, to present due to ‘management of police information rules’. It showed that of the 110 voyeurism offences in Sussex, eight adults and two children were given police cautions while a total of 99 people of all ages were charged or summonsed. One person was charged or summonsed in 2020 for an upskirting offence.

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