Student discovered her stepdad had been filming her after finding camera hidden in teddies

A student whose stepfather placed a hidden camera among her teddies just after she turned 18, filming her naked, has called for tougher sentences on voyeurism after he was given a “slap on the wrist” of 22 months in prison.

Catherine Simpson, 21, from Northampton, said no-one believed her growing up when she raised concerns about sexually suggestive behaviour from her 48-year-old stepfather, Paul Sellwood.

While her mother initially told her Sellwood “didn’t mean anything” by lewd comments, she has since apologised to Catherine, who has waived her automatic right to anonymity as a victim of a sexual offence to call for stronger sentencing.

In September 2021 – just weeks before her 19th birthday – Catherine’s brother called her, explaining he had found a picture of her in her work uniform on their family iPad.

When he elaborated to say, “it looks like it has been taken on top of your wardrobe”, she started crying and “shaking”.

Supported by her work colleagues, Catherine called Northamptonshire Police and Sellwood was arrested, later admitting to voyeurism – with the force informing her that he had recorded her “for his own sexual gratification”.

Sellwood was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on September 21 2023, receiving a total of 22 months’ imprisonment for six charges, including 16 months for voyeurism and made subject to a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Even though Catherine did not attend the sentencing, she said hearing details of the case afterwards from her family was “disgusting” – including him “using (her) underwear and some of (her) sex toys” in her bedroom.

While she described the result as a “victory” for law enforcement, she feels the length of the prison sentence is “laughable” when compared to crimes such as cannabis possession, for which someone could receive up to five years in prison.

She has now launched a Government petition, which calls for an “increase (in) maximum sentences for sex offences including voyeurism”, and she hopes this will help other victims speak out and feel protected.

“I understand that it’s such a big achievement to get someone like that behind bars, but on my part, I just honestly do think it’s disgusting how short the sentence is,” Catherine told PA Real Life.

“If the police caught me with cannabis in my bedroom, I’d probably get longer (in prison), and I don’t understand it.

“The impact he’s had on me and my whole family, it feels like he’s just getting a slap on the wrist at the end of the day.”

Catherine said Sellwood entered her life when she was about nine years old after her parents got divorced, after which she claims “violent episodes” started to occur – although he never physically hurt her.

As the years went on, Catherine said she started to notice “a more controlling and sexual undercurrent” in his behaviours and she claims he would make “inappropriate comments” about her body and weight.

On another occasion, aged 18, Catherine claims he “slapped (her) arse” while she was stroking her dog on the bed – but when she tried to raise her concerns with her mother, she said she was told: “Oh, he doesn’t mean anything by it.”

Catherine said Sellwood made her “deeply unhappy” but, given he was loved by her mother and other family members, whom she does not wish to name, no-one believed her.

Her mother and family have since apologised.

It was only when Catherine received a call from her brother while she was working at a local pharmacy in September 2021 that her whole world changed.

“I went outside, and I answered and said, ‘Is everything OK?’ And he said, ‘I found a photo of you on the iPad’,” Catherine explained.

“To me, this wasn’t unusual as we had a family iPad, so I said, ‘What’s the problem?’ And he said, ‘Oh, it was taken in your room… and it looks like it has been taken on top of your wardrobe’.”

After Catherine hung up, she started “shaking” and burst into tears in front of her colleague, who informed the manager, and together they encouraged her to phone Northamptonshire Police.

That evening, Catherine said she received a follow-up phone call from the force, saying they had arrested Sellwood and found a camera in her room hidden among her stuffed teddies above her wardrobe.

Catherine could not sleep that night and was “crying in her bedroom” as she felt unsafe, and when the police called her again, they said they had interviewed Sellwood and he admitted to recording her.

“They said, essentially, it was for his own sexual gratification, and he didn’t deny it at all,” she said.

“It was a sickening feeling and I felt overwhelming anxiety and panic.”

Catherine said police seized his electronic devices, and soon after this, she threw away all the teddies above her wardrobe, which she had collected every year as a family tradition, as she “couldn’t stomach looking at them”.

She decided to press charges and then underwent a “nerve-wracking” police interview – and although the officer questioning her was “lovely”, she found this “terrifying”.

“I cried and screamed at part of it because the one question I remember was, ‘What are you scared of Paul seeing?’ And I just said, ‘Me naked and doing what a girl does in her room when she’s naked’,” Catherine said.

“I don’t think it’s ever something that’s going to go away.”

Catherine said the investigation took about two years before the sentencing took place on September 21 2023 at Northampton Crown Court – but she was unable to attend the hearing as the date kept changing and she felt “overwhelmed”.

Northamptonshire Police said Sellwood had thousands of images on his laptop, including approximately 300 images and videos of Catherine – all understood to have been taken after she turned 18, with many showing her naked on her bed.

Hearing details of the sentencing afterwards, she said: “If I’d been sat there, I honestly would have felt violently sick.

“It was just the number of images, and it was him coming into my room and using my underwear and some of my sex toys.”

Sellwood entered guilty pleas for six charges, including voyeurism, and was sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment at HMP Peterborough and received a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

The other charges were three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, one count of possessing prohibited images of a child, and one count of possessing extreme pornographic images portraying bestiality.

Although Catherine is pleased Sellwood has been jailed, she feels “frustrated” with the length of the prison sentence given – and this led her to launch her own Government petition, which was approved in February 2024.

The petition, which currently has 351 signatures, calls for an “increase (in) maximum sentences for sex offences including voyeurism”, as Catherine wants to help others and create a “safer space for women”.

She feels those who commit sexual offences are not “punished enough” when compared to sentences for other crimes, as the victims often live with the impacts for “the rest of their lives”.

To find out more about Catherine’s petition, visit: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/645011

Detective Chief Inspector Nickie Deeks, of Northamptonshire Police, added: “Voyeurism is an exceptionally invasive crime and leaves victims feeling violated and unsafe.

“To learn that your most private moments have been watched by someone else has a lasting effect on an individual and that’s why we treat offences so seriously.

“I am pleased to see Mr Sellwood sent to prison for these offences and although the sentence won’t erase what he did, I hope it provided the young woman in this case with some semblance of justice.

“Tackling violence against women and girls remains a priority for Northamptonshire Police and we wish Miss Simpson the best of luck with her petition.”