Man tells court he took upskirt videos of women when stressed

A man was sentenced at the Auckland District Court for his third 'upskirt' video offence. Photo / 123rf

A man caught taking upskirt videos of unsuspecting women at the mall for a third time has told the court he does it when he is stressed.

But he wouldn’t do it again if he could find a way to manage his mental health, Seth Frater told a court through his lawyer, asking the judge not to send him to jail.

The 41-year-old was sentenced to community detention when he appeared at the Auckland District Court on Wednesday.

At a Newmarket mall on July 23, 2022, he stood close to his victim at the escalator, placed his phone below her skirt and started recording, the court heard.

By the time the victim realised what was happening, Frater had reached the top of the escalator and fled.

The victim and her friend followed and confronted him.

Frater owned up when the police came and arrested him.

“I’m not going to deny it, I’ve been through this before,” he told the officer.

Judge Simon Lance said Frater was convicted and sentenced for exactly the same offending in 2016 and 2018.

His 2018 conviction was for eight representative charges, which means multiple instances of the same offence.

In a statement to the court, Frater’s latest victim said she suffered no physical injuries or financial cost but has felt uncomfortable going to the mall for several months.

The woman, in her late 20s, said she hoped he would not do it to anyone else.

In his defence, Frater’s lawyer Timothy Leighton said he pleaded guilty early and now knows he has a problem.

“He offends when he’s stressed, so if he can find a way to manage the stress, I dare say he is not likely to re-offend,” he said.

Frater has sought psychological assessment and treatment at his own cost, Leighton said, arguing that an electronically monitored sentence would give his client the best chance to get well and identify the other triggers for his offending.

A pre-sentence report showed Frater did well in school, played sports, had a four-year university degree and worked extensively both in New Zealand and overseas.

He has since lost his job and was self-employed.

His repeat offending has also led to the break-up of his marriage and affected his relationship with his child.

Judge Lance accepted what he called the man’s “remorse, regret, and guilt” and sentenced him to four months of community detention with a nighttime curfew.

He also ordered Frater to pay $300 to the victim for emotional harm.

“This offending has to stop. If you were to come to court again with similar offending, the outcome may be a different one,” the judge told Frater.