Man charged in Salmon Arm for child pornography has history of voyeurism on B.C. campuses

A man recently charged in Salmon Arm with possession of child pornography has a history of voyeurism at universities and colleges in B.C. dating back almost a decade.

Jay Winship Forster, born 1969, appeared in a Salmon Arm courtroom Nov. 9 charged with possession of child pornography and breaching a release order.

The offences allegedly took place in Salmon Arm in October 2020. He was arrested and charged in August this year.

Separately, Forster also has ongoing charges for voyeurism and assault in the Lower Mainland, for an incident at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Burnaby in July 2018.

According to court documents Forster was charged with unlawfully observing and recording an individual exposing their genitals on July 16, 2018. He was also charged with assault and possession of child pornography.

While the court documents don't specify the precise details of the incident, Burnaby RCMP released information that week saying it had arrested an individual caught taking pictures in a women's washroom at the Burnaby BCIT campus July 16.

CTV News reports the female victim confronted the man who pushed her and attempted to flee before being detained by other students and then arrested.

Forster's Lower Mainland charges are currently making their way through the court system.

And it's not the first time Forster has targeted university campuses for acts of voyeurism.

Almost a decade ago Forster was arrested for filming students in the change rooms at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver.

According to the university's student paper, The Ubyssey, Forster was found hiding in a shower cubicle in the women's change rooms in 2012.

The incident led to his arrest and police subsequently found five videos on his phone. Forster had filmed victims under the bathrooms stalls.

The Ubyssey reports Forster pleaded guilty to the charges but it is unclear how the case ended.

Forster is next scheduled in court in Salmon Arm Dec. 21.

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