Man secretly snapped pictures of woman changing in Parksville store

His license plate linking him to the crime was recorded on scene, the Crown’s Nick Barber told a Tuesday, Dec. 17 sentencing hearing in provincial court in Nanaimo.

Perry promptly deleted the pictures, which was verified following his arrest three days later by Oceanside RCMP at Perry’s Qualicum Beach home where he lives with his adopted parents.

No evidence suggested the pictures were redistributed.

While the voyeurism charge is one that could have warranted jail and extended house arrest, Barber noted that loneliness and being stuck at home likely aren’t good fits for Perry.

Barber said it was “a balancing act” to determine a fit sentence.

“Hopefully with the continued counselling and maybe getting some work, moving forward in that direction that’s going to be more helpful than being sentenced to stay at his parents in his home for the next two years. I don’t see that going well.”

Ultimately the judge accepted the recommended terms supplied by Crown counsel and Perry’s attorney for a two-year Conditional Sentence Order, featuring six months of house arrest.

A pre-sentence report and psychiatric assessment were prepared for the court, which outlined various challenges Perry has endured in his life.

There are indications that Perry carries a potential re-offending risk.

Prior reports submitted to the court detailed that he was abandoned as an infant at an orphanage in Costa Rica. Perry was stabbed in the face as a young child, resulting in blindness in his right eye.

Mental health challenges include trauma related to childhood neglect.

Perry has lived in Canada for nearly 35 years with his adoptive parents and continues to do so at their Qualicum Beach home.

The offender has accessed mental health services in the Oceanside region and undergone bi-weekly counselling sessions since August 2022.

His lawyer stated Perry has a grade twelve education, has worked numerous jobs in the past, is currently on disability and actively seeking new employment opportunities.

A victim impact statement was not presented, while Perry chose not to address the court.

Judge Tamara Hodge said Perry could have received a jail sentence and that his actions clearly would have been shocking and scary to the victim.

The judge acknowledged that Perry expressed insight into his offending.

“He speaks to the report writers about how that must have affected the complainant, and he indicated his remorse and embarrassment.”

Perry’s sentence includes forensic counselling conditions and and not using a phone with picture/video taking capabilities.

Perry’s case is unusual as he had no criminal record until his mid 30’s.

In March 2019, Perry was handed an 18-month non-custodial sentence after he pleaded guilty to 32 charges for making harassing and sexually explicit phone calls to women primarily in the Lower Mainland in 2017 and 2018.

While on probation for that offence, Perry sexually assaulted an 80-year-old woman in Qualicum Beach in a high-profile August 2019 incident and was sentenced to eight months in jail.

The highly disturbing crime involved Perry exposing himself to the elderly victim on a forested trail near the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre.

Perry then tightly bear-hugged the victim from behind and grabbed her breasts.

She screamed loudly, causing Perry to let her go.

He was arrested about three weeks later.

Perry’s name will remain on the National Sex Offender Registry until 2029, which is a non-public database allowing police across Canada easier access to the current location of such offenders.

The final 18 months of Perry’s new sentence features a curfew between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

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by Ian Holmes

Man secretly snapped pictures of woman changing in Parksville store

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