A FIJIAN homestay student who secretly filmed his host in the bathroom was also found with footage of the Christchurch mosque shootings, the Dunedin District Court heard this week.
Josevata Hamilton Turagakula Raikoti, 23, pleaded guilty to making intimate visual recordings, theft and possessing an objectionable publication when he appeared in court.
The New Zealand Herald reported that Raikoti’s cellphone was sent away for forensic analysis to uncover the extent of the covert filming and staff in the electronic crime laboratory found more than they expected.
It reported that the defendant had downloaded a video – labelled “in Christchurch Mosque” – on the day of the attacks.
It reported that Raikoti claimed he had simply clicked a link and the file had automatically downloaded to his phone.
He told police that he had “only watched it two or three times”.
The new charge resulted in Raikoti being denied bail and he had been in custody now at least three months.
It was reported that early this year, Raikoti had imported several mini-cameraswhich he hid in the bathroom of the family’s home – the court heard that one was taped to a bucket and pointed at the shower.
It heard that the battery-operated devices would record for an hour then the defendant would retrieve them and download the footage to his phone.
Raikoti repeated this method on 40 occasions, the NZ Herald reported.
It further reported that during the same period, he sneaked into the victim’s bedroom and stole at least five pairs of her underwear.
Raikoti admitted that it was all done for his sexual gratification.
The NZ Herald reported that the victim’s father said the entire family had embraced the defendant as one of them over the four years of his stay, and added they were disgusted by his actions.
The man said he wanted Raikoti to be locked up for his crimes and then immediately returned to Fiji.
Raikoti will be sentenced in February next year.
