A former Australian Defence Force Academy cadet is facing more than 260 charges after allegedly using a hidden camera to record female cadets in a bathroom at the Canberra campus, ABC News Australia reports.
Tain Stephens, 20, previously pleaded not guilty to five charges of capturing intimate visual data. A further 77 charges were laid in July, and the court heard on Tuesday that another 181 offences had since been added.
The new allegations include offences involving the capture of visual data and possessing, controlling, producing, supplying or obtaining child abuse material. Stephens also faces one charge of using a carriage service to transmit sexual material without consent and one existing charge relating to child abuse material.
Court documents tendered after Stephens’s first appearance alleged that more than 40,000 files were found on devices belonging to the then Army officer cadet. Police warned that further forensic examination could identify more victims and additional intimate recordings, according to ABC News Australia.
Prosecutor James Malloy told the court the new charges arose from the same factual circumstances. He said it would take the parties time to consider the material. Stephens is no longer a member of the Australian Defence Force and remains on bail in Queensland.
His lawyer, Angus Mackie-Williams, told the court he needed 10 weeks to obtain instructions before entering pleas. The court extended Stephens’s bail and excused him from attending the next mention in person, allowing him to appear by video link when the case returns in November.