If it is up to the Public Prosecution Service, a 44-year-old man from The Hague will have to pay a fine of 250 euros because he secretly took a photo of a woman in the shower. Compensation of 450 euros has also been demanded. While the woman was showering, the Hagenees put his phone under the shower stall with the camera pointed up.
The woman worked in the kitchen at the campsite in Zandpol. After work she takes a shower in a closed cubicle. She hears the shutter sound of a camera and sees someone sticking a phone under the shower door. She starts shouting and the man leaves.
In a panic, she calls her boyfriend, gets dressed and they go to the campsite to look for the man who took the photo. They find him at his tent and want him to delete the photo. During the confrontation, the man admits that he took a photo, that he did not know what came over him and that he deleted the photos. A report follows and the man has to leave the campsite.
The judge summarized a statement on behalf of the woman. “I was taking a shower at work and at home. It took a very heavy load. In the following months while showering I felt unsafe. It bothered me a lot.”
The phone was seized by the police. Investigation shows that there are no photos or videos on the phone that were taken in the shower stall. According to the officer, this does not mean that the video or photo was not taken. “Sometimes deleted photos can be retrieved, but that is not always possible.”
During the police interrogation, the man admitted that he was at the campsite and that he made a video of the woman. “When I heard her shouting, I was shocked and I ran to my tent and deleted the video.” He had no thought about it, but speaks of curiosity.
The man is abroad because of his work and is therefore not present during the hearing. He was represented by a lawyer. He received treatment after the crime. A plan has also been drawn up to prevent impulsive and inappropriate behavior in the future.
“He would have liked to be present to apologize and feels terrible about what he has done,” his lawyer said during the hearing. “That’s why he went to therapy, he should never have done this.”
The lawyer also states that no video was found on the phone. “The suspect has never seen a video himself, and because the video is missing, it is not clear what is shown in the images. Perhaps it was the ceiling. It is bad, that said, but we do not know what it says and whether an image of a sexual nature has been made.”
The lawyer therefore asked the judge to acquit his client. The judge will make a ruling on Monday, January 26.