A Rotorua man has appeared in court after he was allegedly caught on camera prowling outside a woman鈥檚 home and peering into her windows for 40 minutes.
According to charge sheets, the man has been charged with performing an indecent act with intent to insult and entering a building without authority with intent to commit an imprisonable offence in that building.
The man appeared in Rotorua District Court this afternoon.
He did not enter a plea.
Defence lawyer Scott Mills said the man鈥檚 family were concerned about the possibility of 鈥渧igilante justice鈥 and requested interim name suppression.
The interim suppression order was granted.
The man is next due to appear in the Rotorua District Court on January 30.
The alleged victim was at home with her children when she received a call from the neighbour鈥檚 landlord about 10.30pm on Saturday night.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to scare you,鈥 the landlord said. 鈥淟ock your door right now.鈥
鈥淗e鈥檚 outside your kitchen window right now... Just lock your door and call the police. Act casual,鈥 the landlord told her over the phone.
As the woman followed the instructions, her neighbour was filming and taking photos of the alleged prowler outside her window.
A man has been accused of prowling outside a Rotorua woman's home for 40 minutes.
鈥淢y two kids were with me,鈥 the woman told the Rotorua Daily Post.
鈥淢y phone was on the bench on the charger. I鈥檝e got a security camera that detects motion and alerts me but I wasn鈥檛 checking it.鈥
After locking the door, she grabbed her 鈥渂abies鈥 and huddled in the living room. Then she called the police.
鈥淚 was trying not to look because I was so scared. I didn鈥檛 know what was going on. But I didn鈥檛 want to see.鈥
The woman said she was on the phone with police for about 12 minutes. The whole time, she was very aware someone was still outside her home.
The woman said she messaged a friend asking for help, and the friend then drove to the woman鈥檚 house.
The friend said she wanted to be sure the man knew the woman was not alone.
鈥淢y intentions were to let him know there [were] people who would come and help,鈥 they said.
Security camera footage later appeared to show the man had been outside her home for 40 minutes before she received the landlord鈥檚 call.
The episode made her 鈥渇reak out鈥 and she was now fearful for her children.
She urged other solo mothers to invest in security cameras with motion detectors and shut their windows.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want another mother to have to go through this.鈥
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