PERVERT CAUGHT SPIING ON KID IS SLAPPED WITH COURT ORDER
Meet 31-year-old Darren Ather.Ather is from Washington and has pleaded guilty to secretly photographing/filming a 12-year-old boy in a public toilet at Ocean Beach Pleasure Park, South Shields.
Darren Ather, who currently lives at 22 Brownriggs Court, Albany, Washington, was caught after the boy noticed a phone being pointed up from underneath the adjoining cubicle.
The terrified youngster fled from the gents toilet and alerted security staff, who detained the suspect until police arrived.
Officers seized Ather’s phone and found photos and videos of 13 other males, all taken in the same toilet block, over the previous three days.
He committed the offence between Sunday, August 10, and Wednesday, August 13, this year.
Appearing at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, Ather pleaded guilty to voyeurism recording a private act.
District Judge Zoe Passfield ordered a full pre-sentence report and placed Ather on the Sex Offenders Register under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
He was granted bail on the condition that he does not enter any public toilets or have unsupervised contact with anyone under 16 except his own child (that's not going to happen, is it?
We all know paedophiles can't help or stop themselves).
He will be sentenced on November 27.
The prosecutor, Ms Clare Haswell said: “The complainant in this case is a 12-year-old boy who was at Ocean Beach Pleasure Park.
“He went to a toilet block at 6.40pm and went into the last cubicle and put paper on the seat.
“He noticed a phone pointing up towards him from underneath.
The hand holding it was in a black jacket.
“He did not use the toilet and ran outside.
He saw a man in an Under Armour jacket and told his friends what had happened.
“They went to a security guard and told him what had happened and police were contacted.
“Police attended and located the male.
They asked to see his phone and found images taken under the toilet.
“The mobile phone was examined and there were a number of photos and videos taken under a toilet of 13 unidentified males.
“They were taken at the same holiday park over a three-day period.
This offence is aggravated by the fact the victim is a child.” David Forrester, defending, did not address the court other than to agree a pre-sentence report was required.
—————————————————————————————————— SENTENCING UPDATE 28-11-2025 A man from Washington has been punished after admitting a series of disturbing voyeurism offences committed in both the North East and North Yorkshire.
Darren Ather, 31, of Blackfell, confessed to secretly filming someone during a private moment in Scarborough in August 2024.
Just weeks after that incident, he also attempted to watch a child in a private act in South Shields.
He appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where District Judge Zoe Passfield handed him a two-year community order.
As part of the sentence, he must complete 30 rehabilitation sessions and take part in a behaviour programme aimed at tackling sexual offending.
Ather has also been hit with a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
The judge noted his guilty pleas and clean record but pointed out the seriousness of the case, stressing that the conduct involved a child.
He was further ordered to pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 in costs.
