An Angus man who took photos of his naked sister in the bathroom has been placed on a three-year community order.
The man’s name will also be placed on the sex offenders register for the duration of the order, which will include a supervision requirement after the “voyeuristic” offence came to light when photos were found on a mobile phone by a friend of the accused.
The accused — who cannot be named — was found guilty at trial of taking secret images of the woman doing a private act while she was naked, without her knowledge or consent.
The offence took place on an occasion between January 1 2013 and May 20 2015 at the family home.
The court previously heard that the 22-year-old man had been removed from the family address and put in a scatter flat in Forfar in the wake of the offence.
His solicitor, Nick Whelan, told the court the accused recognised the impact of his offending and had turned his life around since the matter came to light.
The court also heard that the accused’s sister did not speak to him for five months, but the significant difficulty the offence caused in their relationship was continuing to be worked on.
Mr Whelan raised concerns about some aspects of a social work report before the court when the man appeared for sentence at Forfar.
In response, Sheriff Pino Di Emidio said he considered elements of the supplementary document, including recommendations in relation to conduct and residency requirements of a community order, as “disproportionate” to the offence, despite its seriousness.
He told the accused: “You have been convicted of an offence which no doubt caused great family distress.
“I am very concerned about your welfare and concerned more generally as to the public interest in respect of this matter.
“I regard the supervision aspect as an important requirement of the order, it will require a significant amount of co-operation by yourself with social workers.”
