Court strikes down appeal for McMaster-area peeping Tom caught with photos of naked women
A peeping Tom caught with naked pictures of dozens of unsuspecting women - evidence that led to multiple sexual assault charges - has had his appeal struck down.
Dennis Rhodes, 42, argued his rights were violated because police did not have authority to search photos and videos on his two cellphones the night he was arrested for peeping into a window and masturbating. Those images eventually led investigators to further charge Rhodes in connection to break-ins at homes near McMaster University where young women were sexually assaulted by a masked stranger.
In its decision released Oct. 18, the Court of Appeal for Ontario denied the Ancaster man's attempt to have his convictions on three counts of voyeurism, one count of prowling at night and one count of committing an indecent act overturned. He had been convicted on Oct. 14, 2021. The court also denied his attempt to appeal his sentence of 18 months imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently less any pre-sentence custody followed by three years of probation.
He still has outstanding charges before the courts.
On Dec. 10, 2019, around 11:30 p.m., a woman called 911 to report a man prowling in her backyard on Thorndale Street South, according to court documents. The home's security camera caught the man on video. While awaiting police, the woman and another person in the home looked at earlier security video and saw the same man prowling on the property that morning peering into a basement window and placing his hands into his pants and masturbating."
They then saw the man getting into a black BMW.
Police who responded to the call were told all of this.
At 12:48 a.m. (Rhodes) was arrested while in the driver's seat of the BMW parked a short distance away from the residence."
He had two phones with him and both were seized.
Before Rhodes was taken to the police station, he asked that his wallet and money be left in his car so his wife could pick them up. Police initially agreed, but then on further thought, decided to retrieve those items and any other valuables" in the vehicle.
Those items were seized, plus a woman's health card and a parking pass. A search of the wallet found another woman's student card.
A warrant was obtained to search the phones. Police found multiple recordings, depicting women in various states of undress inside their homes."
Those recordings were taken between March 2017 and December 2019.
Before his trial, Rhodes went before a judge to argue police had no grounds to arrest him while he was sitting in his car, and no lawful basis to search the car and seize his belongings. He also agued police paperwork used to obtain a search warrant for the phones had errors and therefore the warrant should never have been granted.
The judge ruled the items found in the car should be excluded from evidence." However, the photos and videos could be used as evidence, even though the judge concluded the police paperwork created to obtain the search warrant contained sloppy drafting."
Those are the same legal issues Rhodes unsuccessfully took to the Court of Appeal. The higher court dismissed the arguments relating to the images, saying there was a credibly-based probability that evidence of the offences would be found on the phones.
The Court of Appeal also rejected the sentencing appeal, saying the victim impact statements of the two people in the home that night detailed significant fear and anxiety" and the crimes were a significant invasion of privacy."
A continuing police investigation led to Rhodes facing further charges.
One attack took place Aug. 12, 2011, on Gary Avenue. A masked man broke in, confined and sexually assaulted a woman who was home alone. Rhodes was found guilty of break and enter, wearing a disguise and forcible confinement. He was acquitted of the sexual assault.
Between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 10, 2019, dozens of people, who police have not been able to identify, were surreptitiously recorded nude in their homes. Rhodes was found guilty.
On Dec. 14, 2018, a woman who has been identified was surreptitiously observed nude in her home. Rhodes was found guilty.
On April 29, 2019, on Stroud Road a masked man broke into a house, confined a woman who was home alone and sexually assaulted her.
On July 26, 2019, on Glenmount Avenue, the same thing happened to another woman, also home alone.
Police called the attacks serial and predatory."
It creates fear within our community. Especially for women," a detective said at the time.
Rhodes is set to go to trial for 10 days in March for those last two alleged attacks. He faces two counts each of break and enter, sexual assault, forcible confinement and disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence.
At the same time some of these crimes were occurring, police were also investigating six other sexual assaults and voyeurism incidents spanning Aug. 3, 2018, to Sept. 7, 2018, that targeted female Mac students living near campus.
In one of those cases, a young woman awoke in her own bed while being sexually assault by a strange man who had broken in.
Eight days after Rhodes was arrested, Daniel Severin, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of break and enter, two counts of voyeurism by surreptitiously making a video for a sexual purpose while the victim was nude, one count of voyeurism, two counts of prowl by night and one count of possession of 84 child pornography images on his phone.
To complicate matters further, yet another prowler, a 49-year-old man, was arrested in October 2018 for breaking into Westdale homes.
A police detective said at the time that separating out all the incidents and linking them to each suspect was one of our biggest challenges throughout the investigation."
Susan Clairmont is a justice columnist at The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com