A top-ranking Army officer has admitted being a Peeping Tom – secretly filming children in swimming pools and supermarkets.
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Radway prowled the aisles near his barracks with his phone in the bottom of shopping baskets taking ‘upskirt’ pictures.
The 43-year-old also spied on children in changing rooms at swimming pools – and made movies from his images.
He then uploaded them to film-sharing sites where fellow voyeurs could see them and told police he ‘felt good’ when he got positive feedback.
When caught Radway described himself as ‘a lovely man’ and insisted he had no sexual interest in children.
Magistrates heard how the offences spanned nearly two years between January 2011 and November 2012 when Radway was based at Tidworth barracks in Wiltshire.
Mike Collins, prosecuting, said: “He said it started as a game of risk, all about thrills and the adrenaline rush. But he has described himself as a lovely man.
“He made movies of children as they were changing in swimming pool changing rooms and then uploaded them to film-sharing sites.
“Females were filmed randomly when his camera was with him.
“He could not say why he put the images on the sharing site but said he received positive feedback and that made him feel good.
“He then took more which progressed to the up-skirt images.
“He did feel very guilty and realised what he had done was wrong and took various cameras to a skip.
“He says he has no sexual interest in children and is a man of previous good character.”
Radway, currently living in Nailsea, Somerset, was caught when the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre identified his user name on the film-sharing website.
Police seized his computer and he gave a full confession, North Somerset Magistrates Court was told.
Radway pleaded guilty to six counts of taking an indecent photograph of a girl, six counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a girl and four counts of making an indecent image of a child.
Reuben Scott, defending, said: “This has had a significant effect on him and his family.
“He wished to avail himself and he pleaded guilty as early as possible.”
Radway was freed on condition bail to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on May 20.
The Ministry of Defence confirmed that Radway remained a serving officer pending the outcome of the case but would not confirm which regiment he serves with.
