A Washington man has been sentenced after committing voyeurism offences involving a child in the North East and North Yorkshire.
Darren Ather, 31, from Blackfell, admitted to secretly recording someone doing a private act in Scarborough in August 2024. He later also pleaded guilty to attempting to observe a child in a private act in South Shields just weeks later.
Ather appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where Judge Zoe Passfield sentenced him to a two-year community order, including 30 rehabilitation sessions and a behaviour change programme. He was also placed under a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and added to the Sex Offenders Register.
The judge acknowledged his early guilty pleas and lack of previous convictions but noted the seriousness of the offending, stating: “Only one victim, a child.”
Ather must also pay a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.