Ballarat accountant Derek Anthony Grima to face County Court over ‘abhorrent’ upskirting allegations

A Ballarat accountant faces hundreds of criminal charges after he was allegedly caught upskirting women and girls at pools, shops, and public places.

Ballarat accounting firm director Derek Anthony Grima, 39, has been accused of upskirting women and girls in public places. Picture: Facebook

A Ballarat accountant has been accused of upskirting up to 150 women and young girls in dozens of public places, a court has heard.

Derek Anthony Grima, 39, appeared at Ballarat Magistrates’ Court from custody on Tuesday, where prosecutors said the BeFinancial director had allegedly targeted unsuspecting members of the community, mostly young people aged 12 to 15, with “abhorrent” premeditated behaviour.

Police said that as of Tuesday they had laid on Mr Grima 222 charges of producing an intimate image of another person, two of possessing child abuse material, 21 of producing child abuse material, one of stalking, one of being a public nuisance, and two of using surveillance equipment to record private activity.

They said, depending on whether the case was resolved, there could be hundreds of witnesses involved in future proceedings.

Mr Grima appeared at Ballarat Magistrates’ Court by video. Picture: File

Mr Grima was arrested on February 6 after police were alerted by someone at Officeworks who noticed him allegedly following a young girl around the store and crouching down to take a covert photo of her vagina and anus region once her mother had moved away.

The court heard in February Mr Grima’s phone allegedly contained material taken at pools, supermarkets, cafes, shops, and public places including Lake Wendouree in Ballarat and Melbourne Central.

His lawyer Benjamin Smith told the court on Tuesday that “at first blush” the alleged conduct was “significantly contrary to community standards”, but was nevertheless of “moderate objective seriousness” because of the lack of more serious aggravating factors.

Despite Mr Smith’s opposition, Magistrate Mike Wardell agreed with police that the case should be handled by a higher court given the alleged offending’s seriousness, nature, and the manner in which it was carried out.

Mr Grima will face the County Court in June.