The victim of a stalker who took numerous secret photographs of her says she has been left “sickened” and “unnerved” by his intrusion into her life.
Dylan Waugh targeted four women with a campaign of unwanted sexual messages on social media and “creepy” obscene phone calls.
He also secretly photographed women’s bottoms at shops in and around Peterhead.
One of his victims, Amia Greaves, said she only realised she had been preyed upon by Waugh after police asked her view security footage of him working at a shop in Buchanhaven.
To her disgust, she saw herself in the video and Waugh, 22, following her around secretly photographing her every step.
Amia, 25, said: “The detectives showed me the footage and said he was quite sly in what he was doing.
“He followed me around the shop taking photos, then served me at the till before videoing me walking away. He’d clearly practised how he did it as it was proper sneaky.”
The intrusion left the mum-of-one “unnerved” and “disgusted” and in the months after she became so self-conscious she wouldn’t leave the house without tugging her jacket or jumper down low.
‘What had he been doing with my photos?’
She said: “I wouldn’t know the guy if I met him on the street. That’s what makes it weird.
“It was scary to think it had been happening for months. What had he been doing with my photos? It’s disgusting.”
Amia said she has managed to speak to other victims of Waugh.
She said: “They all agree they just feel nervous and embarrassed to walk about.
“When I found out this had happened I started to pull down my jacket or jumper more when I left the house.
“It plays with your head. You were so blind to that, so you worry you are blind to other people doing the same thing.
“No one should be taking photos of women like that. Men should have respect.”
For others, Waugh’s behaviour included unwanted attention of a different kind.
A string of victims over the years
Between 2013 and 2019 he subjected four women to sexual messages and sexual images of himself as well as videos of him performing sex acts on himself.
One woman started receiving unwelcome messages, including crude, sexualised language and remarks about her body, when she was aged just 15 in 2013.
He also asked her for items of worn clothing and made 20 “silent” calls from a withheld number, consisting of heavy breathing and moaning.
A second woman was the target of similar conduct from Waugh between July 2015 and March 2019, starting when she was just 14.
Between April 2019 and April 2020, Waugh targeted a third woman with similar behaviour, this time seemingly using “some form of manipulation or disguising application” to make it look like it was a known contact calling.
A fourth woman was targeted between April 2019 and May 2020, receiving similar images and 87 silent calls.
Waugh was brought to justice when at least three of his victims, Amia included, put a plea out on Facebook for others to come forward and share their experiences with the police.
Amia’s post alone garnered comments from four others adamant they were victims of Waugh’s stalking too.
She added she’s “proud” of their bravery in speaking to police.
“We are in this together,” she said. “Don’t let someone like that bring you down.
“I am proud that us speaking out publicly worked. We did nothing wrong at the end of the day, he was in the wrong.
“I hope he sees that. I hope he reads this and knows he can’t do this to women and I hope he has empathy.”
Appeared in court this month
Waugh was arrested in May 2020 and checks of his phone and laptop revealed numerous clandestine images of clothed females, focusing on their buttocks.
A total of 22 indecent images of children were also found, the majority of which were category C, the least serious. They showed girls aged 7 to 13.
Waugh, of Peterhead, was sentenced, at Aberdeen Sheriff Court earlier this month, to a three-year supervision programme, a nine-month curfew, a four-year non-harassment order in respect of all the women, and 150-hours of unpaid work.
He will also remain on the Sex Offenders Register for the next three years, meaning he must disclose any internet-accessing devices and their history to police for checks.
It’s a sentence Amia says is too lenient.
She said: “He should have been jailed. Police found images of girls aged seven to 13. Is that not a big red flag?
“He’s not got the punishment he deserved. He’s still walking the streets and he’s had the last laugh.”
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