Ryan Yates pleads guilty to filming women inside the University of Newcastle female toilet cubicles

A peeping tom who admitted to filming multiple women from the top of a toilet cubicle at a university campus bathroom was also caught generating child abuse material through AI.

Ryan Yates from Fletcher leaving Newcastle Local Court. He has pleaded guilty to filming women inside Newcastle University toilet cubicles. Picture: Amy Ziniak

A Peeping Tom who admitted to filming multiple women from the top of a toilet cubicle at a university campus bathroom was also caught generating child abuse material through AI.

An amended charge certificate was handed up in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday with Ryan Yates, 24, entering a plea of guilty to seven charges of record and attempt to record intimate images and a charge of solicit child abuse material.

Yates’ solicitor Bradley Gabb said his client also had new charges against him and would also plead guilty to possession of child abuse material, transmit child abuse material to oneself, produce child abuse material with intent to commit an offence and transmit indecent material.

Yates will head to the District Court next month for a sentence date to be set.

Police facts said the 24-year-old from Fletcher, who works at a family accounting firm, walked into the female bathroom at the University of Newcastle’s Hunter St campus on April 29 last year and started filming from the top of cubicles.

Ryan Yates pleaded guilty in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday. Picture: Amy Ziniak

Over a period of about 13 minutes between 2-2:30pm, court documents said he recorded six different females without their consent whilst they were using the toilet.

He also attempted to record a seventh female.

Several women reported they were being filmed which prompted an investigation by Newcastle detectives before Yates was arrested at his home on May 9, with those images located on his phone.

Yates was also found to be engaging in offences relating to child abuse material.

Police facts said the 24-year-old used the messaging platform Telegram to solicit child abuse material, contacting users for “good darknet content” for “prices and samples” in April and May last year.

Court documents said Yates also asked an AI generator to generate images relating to a “preteen redhead girl” in various states of undress.

60 explicit images were generated of girls aged between 8-12 in which he screenshot and saved on his phone in a vault application.

Police facts said he also messaged an unidentified female on May 6 who told him she was 14 and he proceeded to message her asking for pictures before sending one of himself “completely naked”.