Man jailed for filming teen neigbour in shower

A 46-year-old man who secretly filmed his 13-year-old neighbour naked in the shower while she was staying over in his home, has been jailed for two years by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

John Dooley, aged 46, Donegal Road, Ballybofey, Co Donegal had pleaded guilty to knowingly producing child pornography at his home on January 3, 2002.

Garda Gary Walsh said Dooley's victim had noticed the red light flashing on the camera while she dressed and rewound the film to discover him standing in front of it when setting it up.

She ejected the tape and took it home in her pocket to show it to her mother. The incident happened at a Dublin address.

Judge Desmond Hogan placed Dooley on the Sex Offenders Register and suspended the last six months of his sentence taking into account his plea of guilty and his co-operation with gardaí, as well as his efforts to get counselling since the incident.

Garda Walsh said Dooley, who lives with his partner and four-year-old son, was arrested after the girl made a statement to the gardaí.

Gardaí searched his home and seized the camcorder and also checked his computer where they found evidence of adult pornography but none involving children.

He said he didn't know why he did it because he wasn't into that sort of thing and he apologised.

The girl made a second statement to gardaí later and said that a number of months prior to this offence Dooley had shown her pictures on his computer of a man and a woman naked.

He told her not to tell her mother because she would kill him.

Garda Walsh said that the two families had known each other for years and that the girl had stayed in his house many times since she was a baby.

Dooley hid the camcorder in his spare room and put a pillow over it to try and hide it before turning it on.

When the girl went into the room after taking her shower, he shouted at her from another upstairs room to hurry up.

She locked the door because she was afraid he might walk in and because she felt uncomfortable around him.

Erwan Mill Arden SC (with Ms Tessa Feaney BL), for Dooley, said his client was 50% disabled after he was struck by a fork-lift while working in Dublin Airport in 1996.

His sexual functions were severely affected and he was on medication.