Ankit Bista: University student sentenced for filming erotic massages at Sydney parlour

A magistrate has told a university student “a lot of lives changed” the day he was busted with two illegally recorded videos of himself getting an erotic massage on his phone.

A Sydney university student recorded himself enjoying an erotic massage with two separate workers before the second victim caught him in the act, a court has heard.

Ankit Bista, 23, attended two appointments at an erotic massage parlour in central Sydney within weeks of each other.

According to agreed facts, Bisda first went there on June 22, after making an appointment with a worker.

Unbeknown to the victim, while Bisda received sexual services including intercourse and oral sex, he recorded “the entire session for a duration of 49mins”.

On the afternoon of August 10, Bista returned to the parlour and had an appointment booked with a different worker, using the booking name “Kit”.

The court heard Bista recorded two erotic massages without consent. Generic picture.

The facts read Bista was led to a room where he was told to shower before the erotic massage began.

While the victim left the room, Bista pressed record on his iPhone and propped it up inside a pocket of his backpack, which was sitting on a chair among his belongings.

When the victim returned to the room, removed her clothes and was about to start the massage, she noticed the phone.

Shocked, she said: “What are you doing? Are you serious?” and Bista responded: “I’m sorry, I can explain, I will delete it”.

According to the facts, the victim deleted the video from the phone, before going to the receptionist and explaining what happened.

The first victim then came out and went through Bista’s phone, only to find the video of herself from June 22. Police arrived and arrested Bista.

At Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis said these women were entitled to safety when doing their jobs.

“So many people’s lives changed that day,” Magistrate Tsavdaridis said. “Those two women who were entitled to anonymity. Other patrons who were spooked. There was a gross lapse in the defendant’s judgement”.

Magistrate Tsavdaridis rejected an application by Bista’s defence team to deal with the matter under the mental health act.

He convicted Bista, who is studying a Bachelor of Technology and had been diagnosed with several mental health issues, of two counts of intentionally record an intimate image without consent.

Bista, who pleaded guilty to the charges, was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.

He has lodged an appeal with the District Court against the severity of his sentence and the court’s refusal to deal with the case under the mental health act.

The appeal will be heard on February 16.