She felt like she was being watched. Then she found a hidden camera in her bathroom

Nicola Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 21, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Her nightmare started successful the bath.

A young azygous parent looked up and felt her privateness evaporate when she noticed a tiny camera in the bath ceiling of the basement flat she lived in with her toddler. 

She said it looked similar a screw, nary bigger than a pinky nail.

"But I had a feeling it wasn't a screw. I was shaking, I was successful sheer, utter panic," she said successful an interrogation from her mother's location successful Digby County, N.S.

The woman, who CBC News cannot sanction due to the fact that her individuality and the individuality of her lad are protected by a court-ordered work ban, said uncovering the camera turned her satellite upside down.

"I inactive consciousness sick to my tummy due to the fact that of it," she said. "It was the sickest feeling of my life. I don't adjacent cognize a connection to picture however debased and violated I felt astatine that time."

She instantly called the RCMP, who she said pulled the camera from the wall, on with a agelong ligament that they traced to the landlord's location upstairs. 

"He really had a abstraction successful his bath that helium intentionally put," she said. "He chopped out specific floorboards and enactment successful a peculiar vent to ticker connected this camera."

Nova Scotia RCMP confirmed to CBC News that officers executed a hunt warrant astatine the code and seized "items associated to the offence of voyeurism".

According to the Public Prosecution Service, the landlord was charged with voyeurism, and has been released connected conditions earlier a May tribunal appearance. 

CBC News cannot place the landlord to debar indirectly identifying the pistillate who was his tenant. 

'An incredibly superior offence'

Privacy experts accidental what this pistillate and her kid were subjected to is highly unsafe successful today's integer era. 

"There's a interest about, was it recorded? Where is that recording, wherever did it go? Was it shared with anybody? Was it posted online? Is this going to beryllium a recurring intrusion into their life?" said David Fraser, a privateness lawyer with McInnes Cooper successful Halifax. 

Fraser said voyeurism is "an incredibly superior offence" connected its own, but different charges could besides beryllium connected the array arsenic the RCMP continues to investigate, depending who was caught connected camera and what was done with the footage. 

"Somebody who observes a young idiosyncratic successful this peculiar authorities voyeuristically is besides creating kid pornography," helium said. "There's a complaint of creation, there's a complaint of just elemental possession ... past there's an further offence related to the dissemination of it."

The pistillate says galore of her household members had been to her rental portion and utilized the bath since she moved successful last November. She said she's waiting for much accusation connected the footage from police. 

Tenant 'didn't person anyplace other to go'

She said since she moved in, she felt unsafe successful the apartment. The landlord made crude comments astir her, texted her astatine each hours and entered her location without notice. 

She said she called the constabulary astir him earlier uncovering the cameras, successful an incidental erstwhile helium kicked her doorway in.

"I was ever frightened ... I person anxiousness arsenic it is and maine being alone, raising my small lad there, it was precise hard," she said.

The pistillate said she's connected income assistance and receives different benefits similar the provincial rent supplement. But she struggled to find anyplace other to determination successful her agrarian area, and she was told she would beryllium waiting years for a spot successful government-owned nationalist housing. 

"I didn't person anyplace other to go. There's a ace atrocious rental situation arsenic everyone knows, but I was looking ever since I moved into that place."

Housing advocates accidental this is simply a bittersweet communicative heard excessively often.

"This is simply a chronic occupation I would say, successful communities crossed Canada," said Erica Phipps, enforcement manager of the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health and Environment.

"We're going to continue to spot these unfortunate stories with tenants trapped fundamentally successful their existent lodging due to the fact that they don't privation to hazard the lone lodging they tin find, the lone lodging they tin afford."

The pistillate and her lad are present staying successful a tiny house where her parent rents a room. She's sleeping connected the sofa portion she searches for a caller home. 

She says she wants to nonstop a connection to different tenants. 

"Trust your gut instincts," she said. "You should consciousness harmless successful thing you're paying to rent."