A Big Issue Sex Offender vendor, Benjamin-Cornel Teglas from Edinburgh, who was apprehended seeing a young woman in the act of using the loo at an esteemed department shop has been registered as a sex offender.
Benjamin-Cornel Teglas concealed himself within a cubicle in the women’s lavatory and secretly observed the 22-year-old victim by looking under the partition. This incident occurred at the John Lewis shop in Edinburgh.
The woman, who was in a state of shock, was described as being “immobilised and disturbed”. After yelling at the offender, she quickly left the loo area and notified the personnel.
The perpetrator, who was 20 years old, was subsequently apprehended by law enforcement investigators who had reviewed closed-circuit television footage to identify the wrongdoer after the occurrence on May 27 of this year.
Benjamin-Cornel Teglas admitted to unlawfully witnessing the woman engaging in a private act during his appearance at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month, with the assistance of a Romanian interpreter. He appeared in court again on Thursday to receive his sentence.
Defence attorney Mary Moultrie states her client is a first-time offender who acknowledges all accountability for his acts.
According to Ms Moultrie, Benjamin-Cornel Teglas is currently employed full-time selling the Big Issue. Despite having an unrelated unresolved issue in Romania, he intends to move back to Scotland permanently.
Sheriff Peter McCormack stated that the individual pleaded guilty during a trial to a significant sexual offence, which involved entering the women’s lavatory at John Lewis in Edinburgh on 27 May.
The CCTV footage indicates that you were lingering for almost 18 minutes, during which time you deliberately peered beneath a partition, causing significant distress to a young woman present. The offence satisfies the criteria for imprisonment; nevertheless, I acknowledge your age and the absence of any prior convictions.
Sheriff McCormack imposed a non-custodial sentence on Benjamin-Cornel Teglas and mandated him to complete 135 hours of community service as an alternative.
Benjamin-Cornel Teglas, a resident of Wester Hailes, a neighbourhood in the capital city, was also mandated to be included on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.
Before this, the prosecuting attorney, India McLean, informed the court that the victim and her sister were in the process of shopping at the John Lewis store when they decided to visit the loo area at approximately 2:20pm on May 27th of this year.
According to Ms McLean, Benjamin-Cornel Teglas was observed lingering in the vicinity and “surveying the surroundings to ensure no one was present” before entering the women’s lavatory.
The court was informed that the victim inadvertently chose the adjacent cubicle to the one occupied by Teglas and secured the door.
The prosecuting attorney stated: “She subsequently glanced downward and observed Mr Teglas positioned with his head beneath her cubicle.”
“She was initially immobilised and startled, and then exclaimed, ‘what do you think you are doing?'”
“Mr. Benjamin-Cornel Teglas maintained direct eye contact and gazed at her briefly before retracting his head back into his cubicle.”
The woman hastily left the lavatory area while Benjamin-Cornel Teglas reportedly emerged from his cubicle and quickly departed from the lavatory.
Benjamin-Cornel Teglas admitted to the offence of surreptitiously viewing a woman engaging in a personal activity. He accomplished this by positioning himself in a cubicle of a women’s lavatory and peering into the adjacent cubicle occupied by the woman. This incident occurred on May 27th of the current year at John Lewis, located in St James Quarter, Edinburgh.
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