A Crown prosecutor urged a judge to find a North Vancouver man guilty of voyeurism this week for videotaping young gymnasts for a sexual purpose at a 2013 competition.
Andrew Greenwood, 53, was charged with the relatively new offence of voyeurism after being arrested outside a rhythmic gymnastics event held at Capilano University on March 24 last year.
Earlier in the trial in North Vancouver provincial court, Crown counsel Lori Ashton said Greenwood sat in an isolated area of the bleachers and filmed girls as they warmed up at the competition.
Ashton said several people who saw the video camera's screen noticed he was zooming in on the gymnasts' crotches, breasts and buttocks.
Many of the gymnasts were between the ages of 7 and 13.
On Tuesday, Ashton told the judge in closing arguments Greenwood should be found guilty.
After picking a secluded section of the bleachers, Greenwood positioned the camera at the top of his thigh near his stomach, said Ashton.
He also obscured the red recording light with black tape.
"Mr. Greenwood is acting stealthily, slyly, and secretly," she said.
Greenwood recorded some footage with a camera in his sleeve, noted Ashton.
Police recovered two cameras during Greenwood's arrest.
Yet none of the witnesses observed a second camera, said Ashton, who suggested one of the cameras was successfully hidden.
The Peeping Toms of yesteryear have been replaced by voyeurs armed with remote cameras equipped with zoom functions, said Ashton, arguing Greenwood breached the gymnasts' privacy.
It is one thing to observe someone writing in a diary in a public park but quite another to use a powerful lens to read that diary, said Ashton.
Greenwood could have filmed the event, but his repeated close-ups of the girls' breasts, buttocks and pelvises constituted a breach of a reasonable expectation of privacy, she said.
She added the girls being videotaped weren't aware of his filming and didn't consent to it.
Greenwood's defence lawyer Michael Sanders disagreed, arguing Greenwood wasn't surreptitious in his actions, nor did he breach the gymnasts' privacy.
Unlike filming an unsuspecting victim through a keyhole, Greenwood made his one-hour recording in the bleachers at a public event, said Sanders.
"He's in the stands with a camera where a lot of other people have cameras," Sanders argued.
Several witnesses testified to seeing Greenwood's camera from the gymnasium floor, and another witness said Greenwood was not being covert, Sanders said.
"This camera is plainly visible and what is being recorded is plainly visible," he said.
He added some of the girls being recorded appeared to look directly into the camera.
"Mr. Greenwood was highly conspicuous here," he said. "There is some zooming in on the pelvic areas. .. but that's not always happening."
Given that the event was public, the elements of consent and awareness should not weigh in the final decision, according to Sanders.
Greenwood is due back in North Vancouver provincial court Nov. 24 when Judge Judith Gedye is expected to deliver her verdict.
