Philip Hunter jailed for five years for filming boys showering at Elizabeth Aquadome

A mother said she is “sickened” by the man who secretly filmed her son and other boys showering at a popular swimming centre before sharing the videos with other “depraved” people.

A twisted pervert set up a hidden camera to film young boys showering at the Elizabeth Aquadome before sharing them online, a court has heard.

Philip James Richard Hunter, 38, violated the privacy of innocent boys for his own depraved interests.

The Adelaide District Court on Friday heard police analysed Hunter’s phone on an unrelated matter on October 6, 2020.

They found a deleted three-minute video of three young boys between the ages of eight and 12 showering in the changerooms of a swimming centre.

“That video had been edited to zoom in on one of the boys who was naked and drying himself,” Judge Jo-Anne Deuter said during sentencing.

The court heard police identified the video had been taken at the Elizabeth Aquadome.

Philip Hunter was jailed for filming boys showering at the Elizabeth Aquadome. Photo: Facebook

Police seized Hunter’s phone and hard drives in March 2021, which revealed a large amount of child exploitation material.

They also found a further four videos of young boys being filmed in the changerooms.

Police found an 18-minute video taken in June 2018 of three boys aged between eight and 12 undressing and drying themselves.

A 16-minute video was taken in July 2018 of two boys between eight and 12 showering naked.

There was also a video of a boy aged six standing naked and a video of a boy aged 12 getting changed.

The court heard Hunter shared one of the videos he took to other Kik users under the username ‘Filthyboy832’.

“You discussed with those users your interest in young boys and how you had obtained the video footage by using a hidden camera,” Judge Deuter said.

A mother of one of the boys filmed provided a victim impact statement to the court.

“She describes how sickened she is to know that her son’s privacy has been violated, not only by your actions in videoing him naked but also by you passing on that image to other persons for their own depraved purposes,” Judge Deuter said.

The court heard Hunter’s offending had caused “irreparable damage” and deprived her son of his innocence.

Hunter, of Paralowie, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of producing and disseminating child exploitation material.

The court heard Hunter, who worked in the electronics business, had a significant drug and alcohol problem.

The court heard Hunter was extremely remorseful and was “disgusted with himself” for what he had done.

“You told police that the videos they had found were for your own sexual gratification as you were attracted to underage boys, but only in a small way,” Judge Deuter said.

Judge Deuter sentenced Hunter to five years jail, with a non-parole period of four years.

“You were seeking to use the bodies of very young children for yours and others’ gross sexual fantasies,” she said.

“If young children can not participate in such activities without being filmed and then having the images sent around the world is simply just very wrong.”

The sentence was backdated to September 17, 2021.