Peeping Tom gets community-based sentence
Jeremy Aaron Muise, 44, of Fredericton, watched couple having sex through window at Chatham Hall then breached police undertaking to stay away from that location
When a Fredericton man peered in an apartment window to watch a couple having sex, he was drunk, a defence lawyer said Tuesday, arguing alcohol was his client’s real issue.
Jeremy Aaron Muise, 44, of Dundonald Street, was back in Fredericton provincial court Tuesday for sentencing, having previously pleaded guilty to counts of voyeurism, prowling at night and breach of a police undertaking.
Crown prosecutor Gwynne Hearn said police were dispatched to Chatham Hall at 360 Forest Hill Rd. in Fredericton at 12:41 a.m. on July 30, 2022, after receiving a report of an unknown male lurking around windows at the former St. Thomas University residence.
One resident told police he’d been having sex with a partner in his room when he noticed a man staring in the window and realized he’d been watching them, court heard.
The prosecutor said the resident went outside to confront the stranger and snapped a photo of him, the prosecutor said.
The man was later identified as Muise, she said, and police interviewed him in late August 2022.
The defendant said he’d been out that night to pick up some groceries and was walking home when he wandered by Chatham Hall, Hearn said, and he admitted to police he’d seen the couple having sex.
He told officers he stopped and set down his groceries, the prosecutor said, and he watched the couple.
Defence lawyer T.J. Burke noted Muise has a drinking problem, and he was under the influence on the night in question, driving him to make some poor choices.
Hearn said Muise came to the attention of police again Sept. 12, 2022, as he’d been spotted at Chatham Hall again despite having been released from police custody previously on an undertaking to stay away from that location.
Again, court heard, booze appeared to be a factor.
“Officers did smell alcohol on him,” Hearn said.
Muise has a prior criminal record, she said, though it’s for an unrelated offence, impaired driving.
Hearn and Burke offered a joint recommendation on sentence: a conditional sentence, to be served in the community under a curfew, to be followed by a year of probation.
Burke said his client’s pre-sentence report highlights the core issue giving rise to his offences, and that’s a drinking problem, which was exacerbated by the isolation Muise experienced as a result of the pandemic.
“I do want to sincerely apologize to the victims for the incidents that occurred that night,” Muise told the court Tuesday.
He said the past year has been a long and challenging one, but he’s working to move forward in a more positive direction now.
Burke said there were a number of mitigating factors - such as Muise’s guilty pleas, employment and adherence to conditions over the past year - that indicated a conditional sentence was an appropriate one in the case.
Judge Scott Brittain agreed. He imposed a 90-day conditional sentence.
During that time, Muise is to observe a curfew of 10 p.m.-6 a.m., present himself at the door during those hours should authorities check for compliance, have no contact with the resident whose privacy he violated, and to attend any treatment or counselling sessions as directed by his sentence supervisor.
That will be followed by 12 months of probation, during which the no-contact and counselling conditions will continue.
The judge also ordered Muise to pay $300 in victim-fine surcharges.
Hearn withdrew a related charge of committing an indecent act outside Chatham on July 30, 2022, as well.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.