The wealthy boss of a well-known children’s soft play centre chain has appeared in court charged with filming girls and women at his business’s toilets and changing rooms and in a swimming pool’s private cubicles.
Darren Johnson, 51, resigned from Eddie Catz after he was arrested and charged with nine counts of voyeurism, including the filming two 14 year-old girls at a local leisure centre.
He founded the nationwide play centre, which has a tie-in with Mothercare, with his wife Maria over a decade ago and the couple share a £1.3m home.
The charges relate to filming at his Earlsfield play centre in south-west London and the nearby Putney Leisure Centre.
Johnson, of Rodway Road, Putney Village appeared on bail at Wimbledon Magistrates Court, which sent him to Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court.
He is charged with five counts of voyeurism for sexual gratification between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012.
Johnson is charged with two more similar offences relating to between January 1, 2016 and June 12, last year.
He is further charged with two more counts of voyeurism relating to the two 14 year-old schoolgirls at the leisure centre on June 5, last year.
Prosecutor Ms Amanda McCabe told the court the teenage girls were in the same cubicle when they noticed somebody was holding an iPhone under the partition.
“The girls became very distressed,” added the prosecutor, explaining Johnson was identified via the centre’s CCTV and the distinctive backpack her was carrying.
Officers raided his house on June 12, last year and seized a computer, iPad, a mobile phone and the backpack caught on CCTV.
“Images of several women in varying degrees of undress from the private staff changing room at Eddie Catz are found.”
The court was also told there were peepholes in the toilets at the play centre.
He was bailed on conditions he does not enter any Eddie Catz centre; uses mixed use and womens changing-rooms; contacts complainants, staff and witnesses or uses a camera, phone or video recorder to take images.
No comments:
Post a Comment