She thought she was in the safety of her own home. She never dreamed she was being watched, spied on and violated every day.
For this 21-year old woman life will never be the same as she will never recover from her ordeal.
But to make matters worse the man who violated her – in her own home, has just been given a sentence of home detention – one his victims say is a gross injustice.
21-year old Amy Peterson was secretly filmed by one of her roommates while showering and undressing in her home.
She was only 18 when she and her partner, along with another female resident rented rooms off electrician Tristan Wootten on the NSW Central Coast.
What they didn’t know was that he had rigged up a complicated wiring system leading to a camera in the ceiling fan of the bathroom.
He was watching their every move. Violating their privacy.
When the camera was uncovered Wooten was arrested and initially sentenced to two years jail after being found guilty of five counts of filming a person in a private act without consent.
He was also found guilty of possessing child pornography.
A Current Affair reports that this was only the beginning of Amy’s turmoil for Wooten then appealed his sentence and has been now awarded 17-months under an intensive correction order, which means home detention.
“Why should a creep like you get home detention?” asked Dan Nolan, the reporter from A Current Affair.
“I thought justice would be served but obviously the court system is in favour of the criminals and not the victims”. Amy told A Current Affair.
She says the whole ordeal has left her feeling powerless.
Amy told News Limited “I’m left with lifelong scars. It’s greatly affected me.”
“I can’t go to the shopping centre. I can’t even get changed in the change rooms.
“Every time we’ve had to look at a house, if there’s a ceiling fan, we can’t live there.
“It’s changed the way I live my life, but he is not showing any remorse for what he has done.”
So Amy has decided to fight back.
She has started up a petition calling for the Attorney General to intervene.
She wrote on the petition: “I always thought I would be safe in my own home. He took that away from me, made me terrified and so powerless. A few weeks after my fiance and I moved in we felt like something was wrong – then we found he’d hidden tiny cameras and was watching us shower and undress without our knowledge.
They were my most private, intimate moments. What still scares me is I don’t know whether he planned to ‘get off’ on it himself, or show to others or distribute it online. “
Amy says that the court experience left her traumatized.
“In court they showed the video of me naked, showering in open court where he could watch it again. His victims had to relive this trauma again in interrogations. Yet despite all the evidence and guilty verdict he has shown no remorse.
This injustice is so wrong and I can’t go on knowing this man won’t serve a single day in jail.”
Amy’s letter to the Attorney General
Tristan Wootten secretly filmed and watched me and countless women shower in the home we rented off him. Now he won’t spend a single day in jail – instead he gets ‘home detention’.
I always thought I would be safe in my own home. He took that away from me, made me terrified and so powerless. A few weeks after my fiance and I moved in we felt like something was wrong – then we found he’d hidden tiny cameras and was watching us shower and undress without our knowledge.
They were my most private, intimate moments. What still scares me is I don’t know whether he planned to ‘get off’ on it himself, or show to others or distribute it online.
It’s left me an emotional wreck that I’m not sure I’ll ever fully recover from.
Then to watch in court as he was given a ‘slap on the wrist’ with home detention – the place he violated us – was humiliating and degrading. The judge overturned his original 2-year jail sentence, now his punishment is living at home.
In court they showed the video of me naked, showering in open court where he could watch it again. His victims had to relive this trauma again in interrogations. Yet despite all the evidence and guilty verdict he has shown no remorse.
This injustice is so wrong and I can’t go on knowing this man won’t serve a single day in jail. It also sends a terrifying message to other men – that violating someone’s privacy and sexual harassment isn’t a serious crime.
That’s why I really need your help. I’m asking the Attorney General to appeal his sentence – and ensure this terrifying man goes to jail for the 2 years he was originally sentenced to.
We need this closure to start putting all this behind us.
To sign Amy’s petition visit Change.org
Top Comments
Ewwww. What a nasty disgusting human being. Hope when and if he does go to prison, he enjoys being the one stared at.
I can't believe they showed the videos in court where everyone could see! Why is that necessary?