Dartmouth voyeur gets 21 months in jail, three years’ probation for latest crimes
HALIFAX, N.S. — A Dartmouth peeping Tom has been handed a 21-month jail sentence and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to his 13th voyeurism offence, as well as charges of sexual assault and breaching probation.
Kyle Gordon Wright, 30, was sentenced Thursday in Halifax provincial court.
“The sentence that I impose I hope sends a message to Mr. Wright and to other people that if you violate people’s sexual integrity and violate their privacy, there’s going to be consequences.” Judge Christine Driscoll said.
The voyeurism and probation charges stemmed from an incident last Christmas Eve, when police went to Wright’s residence on Locks Roads near Shubie Park to ensure he was complying with curfew conditions of a probation order he received as part of a voyeurism sentencing in May 2021.
Wright was sweating, out of breath and carrying an iPad when he emerged from trees near his residence at about 11:40 p.m.
He let the officers look at the contents of the iPad and was arrested after they discovered a photo and a video of a woman that he had surreptitiously recorded from outside her bedroom window a few minutes earlier.
Wright pleaded guilty to those two charges in July. Last month, he accepted responsibility for sexually assaulting a female friend Jan. 13, 2019, by touching her naked body while she was asleep.
That incident did not come to light until police seized electronic devices from Wright after he was arrested on voyeurism charges in December 2020.
On one of the devices, police found pictures of a naked woman who was lying face down on a couch and appeared to be passed out. In the photos, a male’s hand is shown touching the woman’s thigh and squeezing her breasts.
Police contacted the victim in the spring of 2021, and she recognized herself in the photos.
The woman recalled she and Wright had returned to their friends’ apartment that night after drinking at a bar in downtown Halifax.
She remembered kissing Wright, but nothing more, and said she had not given him permission to touch her body.
She told police she considered Wright a close friend and said it was “extremely shocking” to learn what he had done to her. “I thought he would be someone to protect me from somebody like that,” she said.
Wright has remained in custody since his arrest last Dec. 24.
Crown attorney Lauren Lindsay requested a sentence of 15 to 21 months in jail less time served, followed by three years’ probation.
Defence lawyer Leslie Hogg recommended a 15-month jail sentence plus two years’ probation.
In May 2021, Wright was sentenced to 230 days in jail, considered served by his time on remand, and three years’ probation after pleading guilty to 12 counts of voyeurism, one count of trespassing at night and two counts of breaching release conditions.
Eleven of the voyeurism charges involved three women who lived in the Inverary Drive area in Dartmouth, where Wright was living at the time. Wright admitted watching one of those women on 22 occasions between May 2019 and December 2020, another woman twice and the third victim once.
The other voyeurism charge involved a woman who was an acquaintance of Wright. He secretly recorded videos of them having sex.
‘Very, very concerning’
At this sentencing, the prosecutor noted there were suggestions in Wright’s presentence reports, which included an African Nova Scotian cultural assessment, that some of his offending is a coping mechanism to deal with stress.
“He is a repeat voyeuristic offender and he’s proven with this sexual assault conviction that he has at least in the past taken advantage of an opportunity to go from looking to touching,” Lindsay said.
“That is obviously a huge risk factor. It’s just very, very concerning for the Crown and for the public.”
Hogg said her client is on the autism spectrum, has poor social skills and suffers from anxiety and depression. Wright is remorseful for his actions, she said.
The judge accepted that while Wright has faced challenges, he has demonstrated that he can hold down a job and make friends “who really trust him.”
“Mr. Wright was well aware of the harm done by his earlier voyeurism charges, having heard the effect that it had on his victims,” Driscoll said. “He changed their lives, how they felt in their homes, and caused two of them to move.
“I highlight this to underscore how aggravating it is that while on probation for those (offences), after having connected with support and getting counselling and earning a positive probation update, he breached his curfew and committed a further count of voyeurism.”
She said Wright’s crimes warranted a sentence in the range of 30 to 36 months but reduced it to 21 months because of his personal circumstances.
She credited Wright with 15 months for his time on remand, leaving him with a jail term of six months to be served.
Probation terms
After his release from jail, Wright will be on probation for three years, with conditions prohibiting him from possessing or consuming alcohol or drugs, having any weapons, contacting the two victims and being within 50 metres of their homes, schools or workplaces.
The judge ordered him to take part in counselling for mental health, substance abuse and any other issues identified by his probation officer and observe a 9 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew for the first year of his probation.
Driscoll also compelled Wright to provide a DNA sample for a national databank and imposed a 10-year firearms prohibition and a 20-year order requiring him to register as a sex offender.
“Mr. Wright, I realize that jail is not the cure for this,” she said. “I’m hoping that your dislike of jail is an inspiration to you that when you’re out and you realize that you don’t want to go back, you will do everything you can to (obey the law).
“Obviously, you need external controls. … It really comes down to you making the effort to make sure that you stop this behaviour. Or else you’re going to be back here before the court and you’re going to be getting longer and longer periods of incarceration.”
