A former London elementary school teacher convicted of secretly filming naked women, including a 16-year-old in a school change room, has offered his victims a tiny piece of solace.
Jamie Gardiner, 39, was sentenced Monday to one year in jail for making child pornography and nine months for voyeurism offences. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The now unemployed father of two used his chance to address the court to reassure victims the 29 videos he took, violating their privacy, were never shared online.
"There were no copies of [the videos]. There is nothing out there on the internet," said Gardiner.
The reassurance came minutes after a victim impact statement from his underage victim's mother was read. In it, the girl's mother stated her daughter "worries the video could come back to haunt her if [Gardiner] uploaded it to the cloud."
Gardiner was found guilty of the child pornography offences in June, one month after he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of voyeurism in relation to an incident while he was a special education teacher at Ashley Oaks Public School. From 2011 until March 2015, Gardiner placed a backpack with a hidden camera sticking out of a thumb sized hole in a staff change room at the school. The backpack was left on the floor of the change room, angled to capture the genital or buttock area of female co-workers as they changed.
"I wish there was something I could do to undo this for each of these victims," Gardiner said in his brief statement in which he also expressed a "deeply felt, sincere remorse" for what he has done.
"I am very sorry and assure your honour you will never see me step foot in a courtroom again," he said.
The child pornography offences stem from a two-minute-and-30-second video captured by the hidden camera of a 16-year-old high school co-op student assigned to Gardiner's class.
The girl, whose identity is protected, told the court in a victim impact statement read by the Crown that the incident has left her feeling violated and victimized. She fears using public washrooms, concerned there could be a hidden camera. She also has frequent nightmares. She stated that any happy memories she had at Ashley Oaks Public School, where she was once an elementary student, are now gone. Her father, who also addressed the court, expressed anger and said Gardiner should have the book thrown at him.
The court heard a victim impact statement from a woman who was an education assistant in Gardiner's class but was not one of the women identified in his videos. The statement was read by the Crown as the woman died by suicide in May. She wrote that at the time the hidden camera was discovered, Gardiner was on the fast track to become a principal and was often left as the teacher in charge when administration was out of the building. She knew Gardiner longer than her husband and considered him a "smooth talker." She wrote the breach of trust affected all of her relationships, with her questioning and second guessing everyone she knew. She stated she became afraid to use public washrooms and was concerned she could have been on a video Gardiner had previously erased.
13 other victim impact statements were previously read in court in August.
In a joint submission, the defence and Crown had recommended Gardiner be handed the one-year jail term for the child pornography offences with the sentence for voyeurism to be served concurrently. One-year in jail is the mandatory minimum sentence for both making and possessing child pornography.
In his sentencing remarks, Justice Marc Garson told Gardiner he was being spared a lengthy jail term because of his remorse, but that a message must be sent that this type of conduct will not be accepted in our society. He called Gardiner's actions "flagrant and deplorable" and a "shocking and humiliating breach of trust."
However, Garson acknowledged that Gardiner has taken steps to overcome his sexual addition by participating in one on one counselling sessions, weekly group therapy and is a low risk to reoffend.
Garson also took a minute to speak directly to the victims.
"I am sorry for the pain and anguish and profound hurt that I know you feel and I hope today's proceedings and the conclusion of this case bring some small comfort to each and everyone of you," said Garson.
Speaking outside of the London courthouse following the sentencing, defence lawyer Richard Braiden said his client feels a sense of relief now that the case has come to an end.
"I think there is a point where you want to have it done. He now has the certainty of knowing what the sentence is because Justice Garson had the final say. But [Gardiner] can move on while he is in jail continuing to work on treatment issues and begin the process of reintegrating himself into the community," said Braiden.
However that relief wasn't shared by all of Gardiner's victims. One former colleague, who did not want to be identified, felt the sentence wasn't sufficient.
"I didn't expect that it would be concurrent. I wanted something for those of us that were video taped without our consent. That we get some level of recognition that voyeurism is not a minor crime, it's inappropriate at any level. The reality is that the voyeurism laws need to changed," she said.
In addition to the jail time, Gardiner was given two-years probation and must continue counselling for sexual deviancy and sex addiction. He cannot contact any of his victims and must avoid any of their known places of residence, work, and education.