A father of two who secretly filmed up the skirts of hundreds of Sydney women and schoolgirls has escaped a jail sentence.
Sabapathy Chandrahasan, 57, received a nine-month suspended sentence from magistrate Janet Wahlquist on Friday in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court.
She noted his guilty plea, his mental illness and his cooperation with the police.
"The risk of reoffending is probably low," Ms Wahlquist said, adding that he had no prior convictions.
The recordings and photos depicted females who were or were not wearing underwear, the court previously heard.
From early 2010, Chandrahasan spent about 12 months taking more than 1000 pictures and videos in central Sydney.
Police arrested the architect last February at Central railway station during the afternoon peak hour.
He had affixed a digital camera to the top of a man's briefcase to film up women's skirts as they ascended stairs to a platform.
Chandrahasan was convicted after pleading guilty to filming a person's private parts without consent in aggravated circumstances.
In court yesterday, police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Dave Howard argued for a jail sentence.
He said police found about 1100 digital photos on his computer at his Earlwood home in Sydney's south-west.
Mr Howard also said Chandrahasan had filmed several girls under the age of 16.
During sentencing submissions, Chandrahasan's lawyer, Pauline David, said his client's crime was in the low range and should be put into perspective.
Ms David said he had been suffering from a "compulsive mental illness", due in part to his high-level involvement in the civil unrest in Sri Lanka.
"He was involved in talks to resolve that with the Sri Lankan government," Ms David told the court.
As a result he had been ostracised by the Sri Lankan and Tamil community in Sydney and his daughter's marriage had broken down.
After he was caught filming up the skirts of women, Chandrahasan lost his job and suffered anxiety due to the widespread media coverage of his case in Australia and internationally, she said.
- AAP