A Sydney unit manager who hid secret spy cameras in the bathrooms of an inner-city Sydney apartment block has been sentenced to 28 months in jail.
James Ernest Maxwell, 49, pleaded guilty in Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court over the cameras, which were hidden in bathrooms and a bedroom of two units in a Pyrmont building last year.
The devices filmed tenants having sex, going to the toilet, masturbating and showering.
The court heard the offending began after a Facebook advertisement for a spy camera popped up on Maxwell's computer.
A legal aid lawyer said "extreme levels of remorse" for his crimes led Maxwell to quit his dream job as an airline steward.
The court heard he also had a problem with pornography.
In sentencing, Magistrate Kate Thompson said Maxwell's crimes struck at the "heart of personal integrity and dignity".
"The victims were oblivious that their most intimate moments were being monitored and recorded for sexual arousal," she said.
"The victims all believed when they closed their door that the only people present were those physically in the room — that sanctity was violated.
"They were not alone; the offender was watching."
Stash of videos uncovered
Maxwell placed cameras inside clocks and a wrist watch within units being leased by university students.
The devices were discovered when a tenant became suspicious of one of the clocks in their apartment.
Police found 90 videos of multiple men and women, including footage showing Maxwell syncing one of the cameras with his phone.
He pleaded guilty to several charges including intentionally recording intimate images without consent, filming a person in a private act without consent and filming a person's private parts without consent — a charge which can carry a two-year jail sentence.
Maxwell studied hotel management in Canada before moving to Australia in 2008 where he became a landlord for the Pyrmont property and began working as an airline steward.
He was handed a non-parole period of 12 months.
Maxwell sat quietly as his sentence was handed down before he was led away by correctional officers.
He will be eligible for release in early April next year.
