Peeping Tom gets 90 days in jail
By Peggy Revell on May 9, 2018.
prevell@medicinehatnews.com @MHNprevell A Medicine Hat man who peeped at women through bathroom windows was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days of jail time, plus two years probation. “These have a significant impact on individuals, it’s not a victimless crime,” said Judge Gordan Krinke while sentencing Davis Eichendorf, pointing to the victim impact statement that was submitted where one of the victims says she now feels fearful and unsafe in her own home. Alongside denunciation and deterrence, an important consideration for sentencing is rehabilitation, said Krinke, which is addressed through a probation order that requires the 29-year-old to attend counselling and treatment. The first incident police were called to occurred on March 16, 2017, when a Hatter was walking up his driveway and observed a man on the deck of a nearby residence holding up a cellphone and looking through a window. The man fled and escaped when confronted. The Hatter went to the door of the house to alert the female resident — who was the only person home at the time —and police were contacted. They searched the area but couldn’t locate a suspect. Then on May 11, 2017 at 11 p.m. another woman noticed a man looking through her bathroom window as she was getting out of the bath. He fled, and when police arrived they discovered a lawn chair outside under the bathroom window, which is seven feet off the ground. On Aug. 31, the same woman was once again finishing a bath and looked out the window once again seeing a man there. She screamed and he fled, and police were again called. Fingerprints were found, and verified to be those of Eichendorf — who lived across the street from the victim’s residence. When arrested by police, Eichendorf admitted to the two previous incidents. He also told police that during his teenage years, he developed an addiction to pornography — including voyeurism — and got a thrill from watching someone, knowing it was wrong. He told police he had acted on this urge 10 times, sometimes masturbating at the scene. Sentencing for voyeurism charges are “all over the map,” said the Crown, ranging from a Conditional Sentence Order, to probation to jail time. At the request of defence counsel, the sentence will be allowed to be served intermittently so the accused can continue to work. Eichendorf has been on release since his arrest, and has moved away from his former residence. Alongside this sentence, defence counsel told the court there has been some “vigilante justice” on the file, as one of the complainant’s husbands located the accused and “beat the crap out of him.” The accused took the beating, didn’t fight back as he accepted he was in the wrong — and did not pursue charges through the police. 15
-14
