Source : the age
A man has been charged with producing child abuse material and an intimate image after he was allegedly caught filming through a gap in a family changing room cubicle at a popular pool in Melbourne’s north-west.
Police say the 62-year-old, who was a member of the Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre in Keilor Downs, filmed several people in the change rooms about 11am on Sunday.
They allege another man, who was in the adjacent changeroom with his wife and two young children, noticed a phone under a gap in the wall that was angled to record him getting undressed.
The man’s wife spoke to 3AW on Monday in relation to the allegations. She claimed her husband was completely naked when they saw the phone, and her children were also visible in the footage.
“My husband’s grabbed his board shorts, banged on the door, yelled out and whipped the phone out from under the cubicle,” she said. “I’ve looked under the cubicle and seen two male feet, and at this point I’ve said ‘He’s recording! He’s recording!’.”
“At this point I’ve opened the cubicle and run out. There were a whole heap of families wondering what was going on because my husband was yelling, and I’ve gone and found the nearest lifeguard.”
It’s alleged the accused refused to come out and said he didn’t know what was happening when a lifeguard opened his cubicle door from the outside.
Police charged the man from Caroline Springs after reviewing the phone’s content. He will face court in Sunshine on March 23, 2027, on charges of producing child abuse material and producing an intimate image.
Police are currently reviewing the evidence and identifying other potentially affected families.
Brimbank Council is urging anyone who was in the centre at the same time as the accused to contact Crime Stoppers with their concerns.
“Our thoughts are with the individual and family directly affected, and we acknowledge the distress this incident may have caused others in our community,” the council said in a statement on Sunday night. “We will continue to co-operate fully with Victoria Police and support those affected.”
Following the charges, the council terminated the accused’s membership, banning him from its facilities.
It is also investigating whether it will fill in the gaps or alter the design of its change rooms following the allegations.
The Brimbank Aquatic and Wellness Centre has more than 1.5 million visitors every year, including from surrounding council areas.
This is not the first time technology has been an issue at the centre.
In 2023, just months after it first opened, councillor Maria Kerr called for a safety review including possibly banning mobile phones near the pool.
Kerr was worried the devices would lead to children going unsupervised in an area of drowning risk.
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Alexander Darling is a breaking news reporter at The Age. He has previously worked at the ABC, as well as Horsham’s Wimmera Mail-Times and Triple M radio stations in NSW.Connect via email.
