Ratna Bolleddu sentenced for secret camera in smoke detector
A ‘lonely’ university graduate who set up a secret camera in the smoke alarm of his flatmate’s room as well as the communal bathroom has been slammed for his ‘disgusting’ behaviour. A court heard he had been watching pornography in the lead up and had set up the cameras for his own sexual arousal.
Inner West
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A man who hid a camera in a dummy smoke detector and planted it in his flatmate’s bedroom to film her and her boyfriend for his own sexual pleasure has avoided jail.
Ratna Bolleddu, 25, fronted Burwood Local Court with his girlfriend after pleading guilty to one count of filming a person in a private act without their consent for sexual arousal.
Bolleddu, who is a graduate mechanical engineer, had installed the camera with an SD card in a dummy smoke alarm in the bedroom of his flatmate and her boyfriend last November when she was on holiday.
It was only three months later that the flatmate noticed the alarm was taken down then reinstalled a week later that she realised something was wrong.
When her boyfriend inspected the smoke alarm he found a “SD card slot on the back of the alarm and a small camera on the outside,” according to police facts.
After police reviewed footage they identified it was Bolleddu who had installed the device after seeing “live footage” of him in the Burwood home.
“Footage from the SD card showed the accused attach a smoke alarm to the ceiling of the main bathroom,” according to court documents.
“The accused looked at his mobile phone showing live footage of him standing in the bathroom.”
The documents also revealed that he had filmed another flatmate as well as friends and visitors using the common bathroom without them knowing.
In a police search, empty boxes titled “Dummy Smoke Detector Security Camera’ and ‘Mini Camera Spy Hidden detection’ was found in his room as well as storage discs and USB.
In court his lawyer said Bolleddu, who is originally from India and lived in Australia for three years, was remorseful and was now seeing a psychologist.
According to the sentencing assessment report he needs a “high level” of supervision, the court heard.
The court heard he had been viewing pornographic material in the lead up to the offences and that he was feeling “lonely.”
His lawyer told the court he now had a girlfriend, who supported him in court, and claimed it would “help with his loneliness.”
Magistrate Lisa Stapleton said she was “disgusted” by the offences.
“I’ve got to say, it’s disgusting,” she told the court.
She said she was also “dismayed” that Bolleddu had only seen a psychologist in August – months after the offences.
“It looks like he just went to see a psychologist for a piece of paper to help him in sentencing.”
Yet his lawyer said he had originally seen a doctor and was only later advised to see a psychologist.
In sentencing the magistrate said she took into account aggravating features including the amount of “preparation and pre-planning.”
“No doubt you ordered that device on the internet or bought it in a shop,” she said.
She further said the offences were “very serious” because of the length of time dating back from 1 November 2019 to February 17 this year.
In a victim impact statement, tendered to the court, the flatmate said she had treated him “like a brother” and said her spirit was “crushed.”
“It’s been eight months and I’m still not able to come out of this situation.
“It is difficult for me to trust people again.”
Magistrate Stapleton said: “The harm done was substantial.”
She also noted the impact of pornographic material on the community saying it was “frequently women who were victims of these offences (...)”
Bolleddu was ordered to enter into a community corrections order (CCO) for two years and perform 300 hours community service.