Fears of more victims as man caught ‘upskirting’ woman at busy London tourist site

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A man has been jailed after an off-duty police officer noticed him upskirting a woman at the British Museum.

Metropolitan Police officers launched an investigation after an off-duty City of London Police officer spotted Jake Verano Gomez filming up a woman’s skirt on 19 August. They discovered several videos on his phone.

Upskirting, defined as the act of covertly filming or taking a picture under a person’s skirt without gaining their consent, was made a criminal offence in England and Wales in April 2019.

The offence now carries a punishment of up to two years in custody under the Voyeurism Act and the most serious cases see wrongdoers placed on the sex offenders’ register.

Verano Gomez, a 33-year-old Colombian national with no fixed address, was sentenced to four months in prison and ordered to pay court fees at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on 21 August. He pleaded guilty to recording an image under clothes without gaining the person’s consent.

He will be forced to register with the police, in line with the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, for up to seven years.

The Met Police has requested women who believe they may have fallen prey to his upskirting to come forward for support.

The female police officer rapidly detained the man alongside museum security guards and workers before Met Police officers came and placed him in custody.

Detective Constable Holly Wright, of the Public Protection team covering Camden, said: “These kinds of offences have a devastating impact on women and girls, who should be free to go about their lives without fear of being the victim of such a horrendous crime.

“Fortunately, the presence of our colleague from City of London Police has meant Gomez has now been brought to justice.

“Following his arrest Gomez’s phone was interrogated by Met detectives, they found a number of videos of other victims – also believed to have been filmed that day. Sadly, this may mean there are more women who are unaware that they have been the victim of crime.”

Detective Wright urged those who were at the British Museum on Monday 19 August at around 2pm who believe they may have fallen victim to come forward to the police. Officers asked people to ring 101 or post @MetCC reference CAD 4342/19Aug.

It comes after Gina Martin spent 18 months fighting to make upskirting a specific offence after a man took a picture up her skirt at a festival in 2017.