A woman covertly recorded in the shower by her immoral Kent sex offender stepfather, Craig West, has courageously spoken out following his incarceration.
Megan Ervin relinquished her right to perpetual anonymity to advocate for other victims of sexual assaults, encouraging them to avoid enduring their suffering in quiet.
She was appalled to learn that the guy she had perceived as a father figure, Craig West, was, in reality, a sexual predator who had surreptitiously recorded her.
Maidstone Crown Court was informed that Megan was recorded using a covert pen that West had concealed under a toothbrush holder at the residence he shared with her mother in Sheerness.
During her visit to the location, she was actively urged by the 63-year-old individual, Craig West, to take a shower, and upon complying after a second request, she noticed a flashing light.
Upon closer inspection, she became suspicious and observed that the pen contained a camera lens; disassembling it revealed a memory card within.
In spite of her astonishment and trepidation, a resourceful Megan captured images of the clandestine recording apparatus and informed her family of her findings.
However, their dismay intensified when Craig West, upon being confronted, suggested the possibility of selling the photographs.
Then, following his arrest, police found a recording on his laptop showing another woman using the toilet, and which had been filmed about two years earlier in his caravan
The former lorry driver later admitted two offences of voyeurism and two of observing a person doing a private act for sexual gratification.
But the court heard that in preparation for his sentencing hearing on August 7, he told a report writer that the offences had not been sexually motivated but committed out of “hate and spite”.
Sheppey resident Craig West also claimed he had accidentally recorded the second woman after setting up the camera in his caravan in a bid to catch his wife’s lover.
He even urged his family not to involve police, saying he did not “deserve to go to prison”.
Both victims were in court – as was Megan’s mum in support of her husband – and broke down crying as they saw justice finally being dealt.
Prosecutor Stacey-Lee Holland told the hearing Megan, 32, had gone to see her mum on March 13, 2020, following a breakdown in her relationship, but on arriving only her stepfather was there.
“He encouraged her to have a shower, saying it would make her feel better,” the lawyer said.
“Instead, she went to sleep. But when she woke up, he again encouraged her to have a shower.”
It was said that before she did so, West went into the bathroom on the pretence of cleaning his teeth and hid the spy-pen.
Ms Holland continued: “While showering, Megan saw a flashing light in the toothbrush holder and later discovered there was a pen.
“She noticed it had a camera lens and when she took it apart found it had a memory card inside it. She took photos of that pen.
“After she had finished, the defendant went into the bathroom to clean the shower and, on going back in, Megan noticed he had removed the pen from the toothbrush holder.”
Having told her family, Craig West was challenged, only to initially deny all knowledge of his covert device.
But then, having owned up to having it, he appeared to snap it and throw it away.
The court heard, however, that this was “for show” as he later retrieved it from the garden.
Speaking of his arrest and his laptop seized, Ms Holland said: “On the laptop they [police] found a covert recording of [the second woman] while on the toilet and filmed in the bathroom of the defendant’s caravan.”
It was also explained that when Craig West had been confronted, he said: “I can’t tell you the full truth of it. It’s much worse.”
When this prompted the question of whether he was going to sell the recordings, he replied “Yes”, before asking, however, that he was not reported to police.
“The defendant said he would make it right and that he didn’t deserve to go to prison for what he had done,” added Ms Holland.
Several victim impact statements (VIS) made by the two women detailed not just how they were left feeling violated, but also the wider consequences.
This included the breakdown in the relationship between Megan and her mum, who chose to stick by her partner.
Megan told the court she already lacked body confidence prior to being spied upon and, when she discovered she had been filmed, was left feeling “dirty”.
Referring to Craig West as a “sexual predator”, she added: “To say that I was drastically affected by what he has done to me would be an understatement.
“It’s perverted behaviour being spied upon in a most vulnerable and most exposed moment as showering.”
Megan also described the “devastating impact” in respect of the mother-daughter division that arose, and revealed the incident itself left her so distraught that she suffered a “full mental breakdown” and had to be sectioned.
Referring to her statements, the prosecutor told the court: “She said she felt lost with absolutely everything and everyone at that time.
“She said she was feeling weak, vulnerable and not comfortable on her own, and couldn’t see any positives.
“With the trauma this caused, she quickly became overwhelmed and had suicidal thoughts.”
The court also heard that Megan’s distress and anxiety was exacerbated by seeing Craig West while she was out shopping (the police did not remand him), and she eventually chose to uproot her young family and move away from Sheppey.
In her VIS, the second woman described Craig West as being “deceitful”.
She said she felt “a wave of emotion” when she discovered Megan had been secretly filmed and then an “awful dropping feeling” in her stomach when the recording of her was found.
She said she was left “extremely distressed” and had to be prescribed antidepressants.
She also became paranoid about using toilets and would look around for hidden devices or spy holes.
Such is her fear that she struggled to sleep and has even installed cameras in her own home in an attempt to feel safer.
“The incidents continue to have a devastating effect on her emotional, mental and physical state,” added Ms Holland.
A letter from Craig West, who now works as a vending machine delivery driver, as well as one from his wife, the sex offender enabler, were provided to the court but not read out.
Handing him a six-month jail term, absolutely mental Recorder Walters concluded: “I have considered whether suspension is possible and it’s urged upon me there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation, and that despite your failure to acknowledge your responsibility there is still a prospect.
Craig West was also made subject to an indefinite restraining order in regards to contacting the two women, and told he must sign on the sex offender register for seven years.
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