Man, 56, charged with using camera hidden in walking stick to film women and girls in mall

A man in Australia has been charged with 110 offences for allegedly filming girls and women with a camera hidden inside his walking stick.

The Queensland man, 56, inappropriately photographed and filmed scores of girls and women between November 2023 and January 2024, police.

The man’s alleged behaviour came to light after a 12-year-old girl’s family contacted police complaining that he had filmed her on an escalator at Mt Ommaney Centre in Brisbane in January.

The man, who has not been named, filmed the girl “using a small camera attached to the end of a walking stick”, police said in a statement.

He was arrested on 11 January and police seized the camera fitted at the end of the walking stick.

Police later searched a home in Jamboree Heights in the city’s southwest and found videos and photos of girls and women on an electronic storage device.

They conducted an examination of all seized devices, CCTV footage and other evidence which led to additional charges against the man. He had initially been charged with five offences.

The child protection and investigation unit also charged him with a number of offences.

In all, he has been charged with 110 charges, including 106 counts of inappropriate observations or recording in breach of privacy, a count each of indecent treatment of a child under 16, and two counts of stalking.

“Investigations remain ongoing with detectives appealing for anyone with information or anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity at a shopping centre in Mount Ommaney between November 2023 and January 2024 to contact them,” police said.

The man appeared in court on 28 February and was remanded in custody. He is due to appear again on Friday.