Building manager who hid cameras in people’s homes and compiled private videos cops a year in jail

A building manager has been jailed for installing hidden spy cameras throughout a Pyrmont apartment block.

A building manager has been jailed after he was found guilty of using hidden cameras to record videos of residents showering, sleeping, using the bathroom, masturbating and having sex.

The building manager placed secret cameras in residents’ bedrooms and bathrooms and was able to watch the vision on his mobile phone.

One of the cameras was concealed in a clock, and pointed towards the bed of the man’s own housemate. The man described it as “disgusting” and said he found it shocking, considering they’d been friends, according to 9 News.

James Maxwell was the manager of the apartment building in Pyrmont. He pleaded guilty to compiling 90 recordings of about a dozen women and men in their homes.

James Maxwell hid spy cameras in the bathrooms and bedrooms of inner city units in Sydney. Picture: Dean Lewins

One of the cameras was hidden inside a clock and pointed at a bed. Picture: Dean Lewins

The cameras were discovered when a tenant became suspicious of a clock inside an apartment.

Maxwell’s lawyer told the court his client got the idea to spy on the residents of the building when Facebook advertised spy cameras to him.

“That is where he first got the idea to do this,” she told the court. She went on to say his remorse led him to quit his job as an air steward for a major airline.

“His words to me were, ‘I’ve done something wrong, I should be punished’,” she said.

Magistrate Kate Thompson said Maxwell’s victims were vulnerable and jailed him for a maximum 28 months.

“The victims were oblivious that their most intimate moments and lives were being recorded,” she said.

“There are few places where a person is more vulnerable than in their own home.”

His non parole period is 12 months. He will be eligible for release in April next year.