By 3 News online staff
The tradesman at the centre of a hidden camera sting received name suppression when he appear at the Manukau District Court today.
Police laid charges after the carpet cleaner was caught committing an indecent act on hidden camera for TV3 consumer show Target.
In the show the man can be seen going through the drawers of a customer – a Target actress – looking at photos on her dresser and rifling through her laundry bag – repeatedly sniffing multiple pairs of her underwear.
The man was then seen kneeling in front of the computer where he accessed pornography and began masturbating into a pair of underwear he had removed from the laundry basket, before “finishing on them” and putting them back.
He returned twice to the computer, fondling himself again, before something spooked him and he quickly got up.
The man is charged with burglary and wilfully accessing a computer and will appear in Manukau District Court today.
Target aired the episode last night as a “cautionary tale, firstly for homeowners and secondly, the tradespeople who think they can behave like this in clients’ homes when they aren’t there”.
Target producers handed the footage to police because of the “extreme nature of his behaviour”.
A response from the man’s employer was aired at the end of the show, where the company’s chief executive expressed his disgust and shock and the “uncouth antics of the person caught on tape”.
“He fully deserves to be exposed for what he did while placed in a position of trust.”
He has been sacked from his job.
More charges could follow when forensic tests are carried out on the underwear and the computer has been searched.
The man will reappear in court on June 6.
3 News