Davidson was initially charged in November 2021 with one count of possessing an objectionable publication and two counts of making intimate visual recordings after a father shopping for Christmas decorations with his young daughter caught the defendant taking an upskirt recording of his daughter.
A tsunami of follow-up charges were filed last July after police conducted a forensic examination of Davidson’s electronic devices and discovered 648 more upskirt videos and nearly 11,000 images of women in various locations. Police were able to identify 53 victims between the ages of 2 and 16 years old and 30 adult victims, while an additional group of about 50 victims could not be identified.
“It is believed that most upskirt victims would have been unaware of his actions,” court documents state.
The investigation resulted in 189 charges in all - 131 counts of making an intimate visual recording, 45 counts of sexual conduct with a child under 12, one count of unlawful sexual connection and 12 counts of knowingly making objectionable videos.
Davidson now faces up to 14 years’ imprisonment for making objectionable videos of women and children, 10 years for each of the indecent assault charges and three years on each of the intimate visual recording charges.
Crown prosecutor Fiona Culliney dropped the single unlawful sexual connection charge today in lieu of another indecent act charge. The sexual connection charge would have carried a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment. The allegation for that charge remains the same, that he put his fingers inside a child’s nappy.
The indecent assault charges range from holding children over a mobile phone to putting them in poses and inappropriate touching.
He groomed some of the adult victims who were secretly recorded by “learning their first names and presenting as a harmless elderly gentleman”, court documents state.
The objectionable publications charges related both to child exploitation and “dehumanising behaviour” - a reference to 18,000 images and 77 videos of used menstrual products which he has removed from gender-neutral toilets around Auckland.
Judge Maxwell set a sentencing date for September, at which point victim impact statements are expected to be given.
Davidson lost a bid for name suppression last year but Judge Maxwell issued sweeping suppression orders regarding the charges themselves, including where Davidson previously worked.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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