Calgary man jailed for recording 14-year-old daughter on Shuswap vacation

After years of the family keeping quiet about what happened, a 53-year-old Calgary man has been jailed for filming his 14-year-old daughter and her friend getting changed while on vacation in the Shuswap.

On Oct. 27, a Salmon Arm courthouse heard that the 53-year-old, whose name is covered under a publication ban, set up a GoPro camera in a travel trailer when on holiday at Mara Lake in 2020.

The man’s daughter, who was 14 at the time, was changing in the trailer with her friend when they spotted the camera.

There were three families vacationing together, and the camera contained footage of various people changing, along with the convicted while setting the camera up. One of the teens used their phone to record footage from it.

The girls told an older brother, who in turn told their mothers. 

The convicted man denied he set the camera up before deleting the footage. He took the bus back to Calgary while the three families and their children all stayed at the lake.

The three families had been vacationing at Mara Lake for more than a decade together, and when the holiday was over, they went back to Calgary, and everyone kept their mouths shut.

Three years later, the elder brother of one of the girls told a friend’s dad who was a cop.

“He felt that the matter had been swept under the rug by the adults and that he believed his sister was still struggling to understand what had happened,” BC Provincial Court Judge George Levan told the court.

The convicted man was charged with voyeurism and later admitted to setting the camera up to capture his daughter changing.

He also admitted to police he was involved in “inappropriate sexual activity” with his daughter when she was younger.

“He had inappropriately touched his daughter in her private areas at least a dozen times when she was between the ages of 7 and 13,” the judge said. 

A full police investigation took place, but his daughter didn’t cooperate with the investigation, and he was never charged with child sexual abuse. The court heard that Alberta Children and Family Services were involved.

“The burden placed on 14-year-old me was unfair, unjust and disgusting,” his daughter said in a victim impact statement. “I am forced to carry this with me for the rest of my life because of the horrible act committed against me by a man I once loved, trusted, and respected.”

She suffered anxiety and depression and lost trust in people; however, she said: “he’s still my dad.”

The mother of the other girl said it was horrible to know that you’d let your kids down.

“We have been trying to heal, move forward and build what was damaged. I know there are things that cannot be undone or forgotten. I have seen him acknowledge his wrongs and change his life for the better,” one family member said.

“This fractured the bonds between our families and the ripple effect spread through our entire circle of friends. We built our life alongside each other. Our kids grew up together,” one said.

The court heard that the 53-year-old’s family were still together and his now adult daughter still lived at home along with another sibling.

He’d been married for 37 years, had once owned his own business, and now made $100,000 a year working in the automotive industry.

Psychological and psychiatric reports found no history of mental illness or substance abuse, and no reason was given for what he’d done.

The 53-year-old was remorseful and previously addressed the court, apologizing to everyone involved.

Judge Levan described his behaviour as “beyond appalling” before sentencing him to six months in jail.