A MAN who called police concerned he was being followed then admitted to officers he had more than 300 photos of people urinating on his camera.
Avon and Somerset Police didn’t so much have to catch Shawn Brown, of Loftus Avenue, Newport, as just turn up when the 39-year-old called them over his concerns about two men supposedly following him in Bristol in June 2021.
However, when the police approached the two men they said they had been following Brown over what they described as his “predatory behaviour” around the city’s College Green.
Police took Brown away from the area, and while in the police car, he admitted to officers he was a registered sex offender.
Brown’s explanation of why he was hanging round College Green was described as convoluted and confusing - he said he was meant to be meeting someone from the dating app Grindr.
Then, in a bizarre twist to proceedings, Brown admitted filming people urinating in Bristol and offered up his camera, which after inspection was found to have 309 images of men and two of woman urinating on it.
At 1.40am that night Brown was arrested on suspicion of voyeurism.
More disturbing was footage found of a family on a beach in the Weston-super-Mare area and images of one of the boys being towelled off by his mother after being in the sea.
Brown, who was facing over 20 charges of voyeurism committed in the month of June 2021, pleaded guilty at a plea and pre-trial prep hearing at Bristol Crown Court in October 2023.
Being on the sex offenders register, Brown was already under the supervision of Gwent Police, and it was this police force that discovered 11 category A images of children, four category B and four category C on Brown’s laptop.
These offences were said to be committed between February 2019 and July 2021.
Brown, who admitted having sexual fantasies about children as young as four, had two previous convictions for seven offences including making and distributing indecent images of children, for which he got a two-year custodial sentence.
On Friday, January 12, Brown was back in the courts, this time at Swansea Crown Court where he narrowly avoided jail, receiving a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years for voyeurism and having in his possession indecent images of children.
Judge P H Thomas KC, suspended Brown’s sentence due to positive sexual offenders therapy reports that said Brown had worked hard, recognised his triggers and taken responsibility for his actions.
It was also noted Brown had been in a stable relationship with his partner for two years, all of this leading Judge Thomas to conclude: “Some of your exotic and adventurous sexual needs are being met in a different way rather than these groggy offences.
“You have been given a remarkable chance because of your efforts in the last two years. You will not get this again.”
For offences committed in Bristol, Brown was given a 14 month prison sentence and for the 21 counts of voyeurism, four months in prison for each offence to run concurrent to each other and consecutive to the sentence for the Bristol offence.
For being in possession of category A images, Brown was sentenced to six months in prison, category B, four months in prison, and category C, two months in prison, to run concurrent to each other and consecutive to the voyeurism and Bristol crimes. All the prison sentences were suspended, making a total of two years suspended for two years.
Brown was also made to do 200 hours unpaid work and 50 sessions of rehabilitation activities.
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