A Perth man secretly recorded women and girls on public transport using a phone deliberately placed on his bag so he could see up their clothing, a court has been told.
The District Court in Perth heard Adam Simon McGovern was “hiding in plain sight” when he made the recordings.
He allegedly focused on the breasts and buttocks of women and girls, some in their school uniforms, in supermarkets and on buses and trains in suburban Perth.
Mr McGovern, 50, is on trial, accused of dozens of charges of indecent recording, which allegedly occurred in late 2022. His youngest alleged victim was under 13 at the time.
Court told of upskirting
Prosecutor Mimi Yeung told the District Court that secretly taking videos of underwear, or “upskirting”, was sexually intrusive when the women and girls were unaware and had not given permission.
Ms Yeung said Mr McGovern placed the phone “somewhere unassuming”, in the outside pocket of a bag or backpack, and turned on the video camera.
Prosecutor Mimi Yeung said Mr McGovern made the recordings for his own gratification. (ABC News: David Weber)
She told the jury Mr McGovern would find women or girls and would “linger” or sit across from them, filming from a “low position” and moving his bag to “get a better angle”.
In some cases, Ms Yeung said, he followed children “all the way” to their school entrances.
He was “hiding in plain sight”, she said, making secret and indecent recordings “for his own gratification”.
School principals to testify
The prosecutor said police found 36 recordings on Mr McGovern’s laptop in January 2023, ranging from one minute to 30 minutes in length.
She told the jury nine hours of recordings would be played in court and “the more you see, the more it will become apparent” what he was doing.
School principals would be giving evidence about children who were targeted.
Mr McGovern is alleged to have made the recordings on buses and trains and in supermarkets. (Supplied.)
Judge Wendy Gillan warned jurors the videos may be “confronting” and she would be closing the court to protect the identities of those filmed.
Mr McGovern has pleaded not guilty to 41 charges, including several counts of doing an indecent act in public, indecently recording a child over 13 and under 16, and one count of indecently recording a child under 13.
The offences allegedly occurred from September through to December in 2022 across the Perth metropolitan area.
Artist ‘just capturing scene’
Defence lawyer Anthony Elliott said his client was a novelist and an artist, and he made recordings to capture dialogue, while also “looking for things to sketch and practice on”.
Mr Elliott held up sketches, including one of a dancing woman and another of three women standing together.
Adam McGovern is facing dozens of charges of indecently recording women and girls using his phone. (ABC News: Berge Breiland)
He suggested Mr McGovern was unaware of what was captured on some recordings.
“It was secret to him as well because he didn’t know what he was recording,” Mr Elliott told the jury.
“Is the recording a recording that was indecent?
“Or was it a happenstance intrusion into the scene?
“Was it dumb bad luck that something has gone on the video that was not intended?”
Lawyer Anthony Elliott suggested his client was an artist “just capturing the world around him”. (ABC News: David Weber)
Mr McGovern was “just capturing the world around him”, Mr Elliott said.
Portions of some of the videos were played to the jury, including one in a supermarket, and another at Scarborough Beach, where no indecent material could be seen.
He said the jury would have to make decisions about the purpose of the full recordings.
The trial is expected to last eight days.
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