Christopher Goan, a 36-year-old former mathematics lecturer at North East Scotland College (Nescol) in Aberdeen, faced sentencing at Peterhead Sheriff Court for voyeuristic offences committed against his former neighbour in St Combs. The case, reported by The Press and Journal, highlighted Goan's predatory behaviour, which involved secretly recording the woman without her knowledge.
Between February and August 2018, Goan positioned a camera in his window adjacent to the victim's upstairs room, capturing 16 videos totalling 18 minutes. The footage depicted the woman in various states of dress and undress, with nine clips having their titles altered to describe the illicit content. The victim remained unaware of the recordings until police informed her during their investigation. She later recalled spotting Goan at his window on multiple occasions, including once when she noticed a small black device resembling a camera on a tripod. Concerned, she alerted her mother, who confronted Goan. He denied any wrongdoing, claiming the device was a 'sucker for his children’s blackout blinds'.
Police raided Goan's home in St Combs on 1 December 2023, seizing various electronic devices, including a hard drive examined by the cyber crime unit. The hard drive contained the voyeurism videos, confirming the offences. During the same raid, officers discovered thousands of indecent images and videos of children on his devices: 3,402 photographs and 45 videos, plus 2,383 recovered deleted images and four videos. Goan provided 'no comment' answers in his police interview on 18 December 2023, appearing visibly upset.
This was not Goan's first brush with the law. In 2023, he was convicted for uploading indecent images of children to an online platform, resulting in his dismissal from Nescol on 20 December 2023 and placement on the sex offenders register for three years. He remains under a supervision order until 2027 and is participating in the Moving Forward 2 Change programme to prevent reoffending.
Sheriff Alan Sinclair sentenced Goan to 166 hours of unpaid work to be completed within one year, opting for a community penalty over imprisonment. The sheriff acknowledged the significant psychological harm caused to the victim, stating: 'The offence here has caused significant psychological harm to your victim. My sentence has to reflect the gravity of that.' Defence solicitor Sam Milligan noted Goan's turbulent upbringing and his early acceptance of involvement in prior offences, emphasising his willingness to seek specialist help.
The victim expressed profound disappointment with the sentence, describing it as a 'slap on the wrist' in an interview with The Press and Journal. She said: 'He came away from that with what looked like a slap on the wrist. It’s very disappointing to hear that just because he had strict results from his first sentence that it was deemed enough for his behaviour towards me.' She highlighted Goan's lack of remorse, noting he read his Kindle in court without showing shame, and voiced ongoing fears for her children's safety, calling his behaviour 'predatory' and questioning the court's assessment of his risk.