Anthony Ward charged with upskirting teenage schoolgirl in Hurstville

A vigilant observer caught a cybersecurity expert in the act as he filmed up a 16-year-old schoolgirl’s skirt at a busy shopping centre in Sydney’s south in May. Anthony Ward has now confessed he filmed the genitals of two women in two days.

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A cybersecurity expert with national security clearance and an interest in animated porn was caught by a vigilant shopper as he filmed up a teenage schoolgirl’s skirt at a Sydney shopping centre earlier this year.

Anthony Ward, 26, told police he had been filming women’s shorts with a covert filming iPhone app for a year and a half before he filmed up two females’ skirts with his iPhone in May.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of filming a person’s private parts without consent and applied for a Section 32 dismissal under the Mental Health Act on Wednesday.

Anthony Ward, 26, has admitted to filming two females’ genital areas by upskirting them.

Sutherland Local Court Magistrate Jayeann Carney said on May 25 Ward followed a teenage schoolgirl up an escalator at Westfield Hurstville before he took out his phone and began filming up her uniform skirt.

“He used a covert filming app which allowed him to film without any image appearing on the screen,” Ms Carney told the court.

“He noticed the young female walking behind him and began recording.”

The teenage girl’s face was clearly depicted in 25 seconds of footage obtained after Ward was arrested and police seized his phone.

“The girl stepped onto the escalator and Ward then began recording the young girl’s genitals under her skirt, covered by her underwear,” Ms Carney told the court.

Ward is a cybersecurity expert.

A male witness who had observed Ward’s behaviour from the outset contacted Westfield security and watched him until he was apprehended.

The entire incident was caught on CCTV and Ward was frank with police when he was arrested.

Subsequent investigations revealed that two days earlier Ward had also filmed up an unidentified Asian woman’s skirt for 27 seconds as she stepped onto an escalator at Central train station.

“He said (to police) ‘I’m really sorry, I’ve been doing this for a while’,” Ms Carney told the court.

“He says ‘I do it for sexual purposes, it’s wrong and I’m ashamed’.”

Ward has national security clearance for his previous employment as a cybersecurity expert at PricewaterhouseCoopers and in his current role as a cybersecurity tester at Commonwealth Bank.

On his LinkedIn profile, Ward wrote he “delivers penetration tests and security assessments to clients in government, telecommunications and banking sectors, helping them identify and manage their cybersecurity risks”.

Ms Carney said Ward’s psychologist had diagnosed him with voyeuristic disorder.

“He fantasises about voyeurism, male and female Asian porn, and has watched Asian animated porn which depicted females between 14 and 16 years of age,” Ms Carney told the court.

“He provided an additional code on his phone and police located a further 19 videos of women from behind at a low angle.”

Ms Carnet refused the Section 32 application and said Ward would need more than the six months of rehabilitation provided for under the order.

“The maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment,” Ms Carney told the court.

“The court must send a message to the community and particularly men that it is an abhorrent crime to use a phone to film women — I note one of them was 16 — under their clothing, filming the private areas of their body.”

Ward will be subject to an assessment report before he is sentenced at a later date.

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