Man sentenced for sexually assaulting step-daughters with psychiatric disorders

A man was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for sexually assaulting two women who have mild psychiatric illnesses and who require long-term use of antipsychotics and sleeping pills.

The case revealed that the man touched the breasts and genitals of the daughters of his spouse while they were asleep after taking their nightly medication.

The wife, who was working outside at the time, discovered the incident through the surveillance equipment in their daughter’s room. The man was convicted of two counts of sexual assault in the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) and sentenced to a total of four years and six months in prison.

He was accused of sex offences against persons incapable of resistance.

The man appealed to the TUI, arguing that the images recorded by his wife’s surveillance equipment in the victim’s room were prohibited evidence. 

Non-privacy oriented CCTV footage permitted as court exhibits

The TUI has ruled that footage of surveillance cameras installed for reasons other than for illegally violating privacy can be accepted by the court of law as exhibits.

Disputing the legality of the footage from the surveillance cameras installed in the bedroom by the mother, the suspect filed for final appeal.

The TUI cited an earlier ruling to support that the acceptance or rejection of exhibits should depend on the case. Meanwhile, the court ruled that the intention of installing surveillance cameras in the bedroom was justified and the installation was not done for the sake of breaching the suspect’s privacy.

The court also took into account the time of the violation and the health conditions of the victims, before ruling in favor of acceptance of the footage.

His sentence remains unchanged.

Recently, the city has been in dispute about whether surveillance cameras should be allowed in napping and care-taking areas of nurseries.