Penticton

Photo: Contributed

A Penticton man accused of peeping at a woman in a washroom stall at a mall was sentenced Monday to 18 months probation.

Judge Gale Sinclair handed down the decision, after Skye Dylan Shillitto, 36, pleaded guilty to a charge of secretly observing/recording nudity in a private place. A second charge of mischief was stayed.

According to crown counsel Duncan Campbell, on Dec. 6, 2011 a woman in her 30s was using a washroom at the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre, when she saw an individual peeking under the stall. She screamed and the man fled on foot.

A few days later the same woman saw the  man at a different mall and got his license plate number.

After identifying him in a photo line up, the police confronted Shillitto, and he acknowledged he was involved.

His story at the time was he wandered into the wrong washroom and dropped a tissue on the floor, then looked under the stall as he retrieved it, said Campbell.

Crown counsel asked the judge for a suspended sentence of two years and that the man not  go to Cherry Lane, have no contact with the complainant and get sex offender counseling.

Defence lawyer Michael Welsh said Shillitto was a grounds keeper at a golf course but lost his job when this incident became public.

Welsh admitted that his client made up the story about dropping the tissue, initially, and now know he needs to get assistance.

"He's trying to cope with why he did what he did and trying to sort that out," said Welsh.

The man also had trauma early in life, with his mother leaving when he was 2. He bounced around from one relative's home to another. His only employment over the years has been at golf courses and he has struggled with depression for a long time, Welsh explained.

Shillitto told the court he feels terrible, obviously, for what he did and admitted he acted inappropriately.

Among the conditions of his probation are no contact with the complainant, staying away from  public changing areas and attending counseling programs as directed by his probation officer.