Voyeur who secretly filmed teen is jailed

Jon Millhouse, of Gloucester Road, had previously been found guilty of all seven charges of taking indecent images and one count of voyeurism by a jury last month.

He was sentenced by Judge Claudia Ackner at Chichester Crown Court on Friday and will serve half of his sentence in jail and the other half on licence.

Millhouse had pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faced, with his barrister, Rebecca Upton, claiming he had taken no sexual gratification from the stills and videos he made.

However, Judge Ackner said Millhouse was a ‘manipulative’ man who had taken advantage of a vulnerable teenage girl.

She said from January, 2012, until May 18, of the same year, he had ‘executed a truly shocking plan’ to film the teen.

Millhouse made no reaction as Judge Ackner told how he had amassed a collection of 287 still pictures and 174 videos using a camera concealed in a pen and a hidden webcam.

She described how Millhouse had ‘carefully planned’ the whole operation and that when his wife, Wendy, discovered the images on the couple’s home computer, on May 18, 2012, and notified the police, he had attempted to conceal some of the files by renaming them.

Judge Ackner said Millhouse’s actions had emotionally affected the girl – something for which Millhouse’s defence counsel Rebecca Upton said he had expressed remorse and guilt over.

Ms Upton told the court Millhouse has been of previous good character and had never had a custodial sentence before.

Ms Upton also told the court Millhouse acts as a carer to his wife, who supported her husband throughout the trial.Millhouse has been placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Tim Hughes, of the child protection team in Littlehampton, said: “I’m delighted that justice has been done and this sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes.

“This shows that criminals are not beyond the law and to take images of vulnerable people will lead to serious consequences.”