In 2022, a man was arrested for voyeurism—gaining sexual pleasure from watching people in the nude—for watching a woman undress and shower at the SEAPARC Recreation Centre in Sooke.
Mark Istephan, a 52-year-old man with a history of numerous sexual offences was convicted in January and received his sentence on March 20th.
The woman who was victimized by Istephan’s latest act of voyeurism told the court she attended a facility in Sooke for an early morning workout.
She reported that while in a gender neutral bathroom stall that included a shower and place to change privately, she noticed a shadow in her periphery.
According to the victim, she saw Istephan looking in on her while she was naked and changing after her shower and immediately she went to reception who called the police.
Sooke RCMP attended the facility and were able to locate and arrest Istephan.
According to court records, the woman who was victimized by Istephan continues to suffer from anxiety and a fear of using public recreation centres.
Istephan has been convicted of several crimes prior to this latest offence.
Past offences
In 2001, he was charged with attempted kidnapping when he reportedly tried to force a 13-year-old girl into his vehicle as she waited at a bus stop.
According to court documents, for this crime Istephan showed no remorse or motivation to get better or work on himself.
For this, he served an 18-month conditional sentence.
In 2007, Istephan was convicted of committing an indecent act because he was publicly masturbating on the wharf of a popular swimming lake near Victoria.
For this he received a 60-day sentence in prison followed by three years’ probation.
According to court records, Istephan saw numerous mental health professionals between 2001 and 2008; some of whom he would cooperate with, some he would not.
It was then determined that he had noticeable physical damage to his frontal lobe, but the cause or extent of that damage was not disclosed.
In both 2009 and 2014, Istephan breached the terms of his probation for not attending his court ordered sex offender counselling program and for coming within 200 metres of a school, respectively.
He served an additional 18-month jail sentence, followed by 3 years’ probation for being too close to the school.
According to the courts, this is because Istephan offended multiple times and always pleaded not guilty and tried to avoid any sort of psychological assessment.
It was determined he was likely to reoffend.
Sentencing
With all this in mind, the presiding judge in Istephan’s latest sentencing decided jailtime would best serve him and the public.
“If Mr. Istephan were willing to participate constructively in mental health assessment and treatment, a conditional sentence directed to those objectives might be the best way to enhance public safety,” said Judge Ted Gouge.
“In view of his resolute and consistent rejection of such assessment and treatment, the only sentence available to provide some protection for the public is incarceration.”
The maximum possible sentence was two years minus one day, however Judge Gouge opted to give Istephan an 18-month sentence because that is all that the prosecutors were seeking in this case.
Following this jail time, Istephan will serve three years probation and have the following conditions imposed on him:
- Keep the peace and be of good behaviour
- Attend court when required to do so by the court
- Report in person to a probation officer as and when directed by his probation officer
- Provide his probation officer with his residential address and telephone number, and not change either of those without first notifying them
- Not approach within 500 metres of the SEAPRAC Recreation Centre unless he is in a moving motor vehicle
- Have no contact or communication, directly or indirectly, with the victim in this case
- Not approach within 10 metres of her
- If he encounters the victim, he is to leave her presence immediately without any words or gestures
- Not approach within 100 metres of any place which he knows to be a place of education, employment or residence of her
- Not go to any public recreation centre
- Provide a DNA sample on the request of any corrections officer
- Have no contact or communication, directly or indirectly, with the victim while he is in custody
Normally, in this kind of case there is also a fine associated with the charge, but in this instance, Judge Gouge decided to waive the fee.
