Serial peeping Tom Luke Spencer Tregloan deserves prison, court told

A children’s app creator and serial peeping Tom says he should avoid jail because his crimes were spontaneous – but his own words prove otherwise, a court was told.

A children’s app creator and serial peeping Tom does not deserve a home detention sentence because he actively and deliberately planned his crimes and repeatedly filmed the same women, a court has heard.

On Friday, prosecutors urged the District Court to order Luke Spencer Tregloan serve an immediate prison term for both his indecent filming and his cache of child exploitation material.

Rachel Wang, prosecuting, said Tregloan’s claim that his offending was spontaneous and opportunistic was disputed by evidence that came from his own mouth.

“After his arrest, he was asked why he took photos of his victims’ mail,” she said.

“Tregloan replied: ‘It was to put a face to a name and know where so-and-so lives if I’m jogging past their place and wondering if they’re getting changed with the window open again’.

“He actively turned his mind to the opportunity to indecently film his victims, he took steps in order to be able to make it easy to remember previous addresses and victims.

“Tregloan was not just passively coming across someone changing in front of a window, he was actively looking for his opportunities … most importantly, he revisited some victims multiple times.”

Luke Spencer Tregloan, prior to his arrest, with two of the puppets that starred in the education app he co-created. Picture: AAP/Mike Burton.

Tregloan, 46, of Highgate, pleaded guilty to possessing child exploitation material on his phone and in files linked to a cloud storage service.

He also pleaded guilty to indecently filming seven women and girls on ten different occasions.

Tregloan was arrested by SA’s Joint Anti Child Exploitation Team in July, after its detectives were tipped off to his uploading of child exploitation material to the internet.

He had posed as a woman, while doing so, to conceal his identity – and had also amassed a collection of self-made videos.

Those 15 files, spanning from 2017 to 2020, depicted women vulnerable and private situations being filmed without their knowledge.

Prior to his arrest, Tregloan was known for co-creating a smartphone app showing native animal puppet characters singing educational songs for children.

Tregloan pleaded guilty to a number of child abuse material and indecent filming charges. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes.

In June, Tregloan issued an apology to his victims, saying he had undertaken “self-reflection”, and was now “deeply sorry” and “disgusted” with himself.

His counsel, meanwhile, insisted his offending was not pre-planned but opportunistic, and arose from drinking and mental health issues he was dealing with at the time.

On Thursday, Ms Wang said that submission did not accurately reflect Tregloan’s offending.

She said Tregloan’s claim his collecting of child abuse material was motivated by an “adrenaline rush” should also be disregarded.

She said it was clear – again from his comments upon arrest – that he derived sexual gratification from it.

Casey Isaacs, for Tregloan, said his client’s offending was “opportunistic in the first instance” but agreed he would “look for” chances to film as time went on.

The abuse material, he said, did not show pedophilic tendencies but rather his client “romanticising about himself in his younger years”.

Judge Joana Fuller remanded Tregloan on continuing bail for sentencing next month.