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A woman, who was unknowingly recorded by a biomedical student in a public restroom, now feels unsafe and avoids using public facilities.
This woman is just one of several victims targeted by university student Bao Phuc Cao, who clandestinely filmed individuals in private moments at public venues.
The unsettling incident took place on February 20, 2025, when the woman entered the restroom at Chipmunks Playland and Cafe Docklands, only to realize someone was in a nearby stall.
While in the stall, she caught sight of an iPhone positioned near the partition, capturing footage without her consent.
Frightened by the discovery, she quickly left the restroom and alerted security, who promptly apprehended Cao in the adjacent cubicle.
Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz read the woman’s victim impact statement and described how Cao’s offending had a profound impact on the complainant.
“She remains anxious, unsurprisingly she is hypervigilant,” the magistrate said.
The woman’s sense of safety has been and continues to be affected, impacting her ability to use the restroom in the office and in public, she added.
“These concerns are the long-term effects of your offending,” Mykytowycz said.
On Friday, Cao was sentenced to a 12-month adjourned undertaking without conviction where he must be of good behaviour and comply with his previous community corrections order.
The offender had been sentenced twice before receiving a community corrections order — in July 2025 on the same matter and May 2025 relating to an incident in October 2024.
Under the principle of totality, the magistrate said his charge today should have been bundled with his previous sentencing as it would have been unlikely to have impacted his prior sentence.
Mykytowycz took into account his guilty plea, youth and that he has no family in Australia, but described the offending as very serious and the complainant was entitled to feel safe.
“Your offending was not of a physical nature but of the most intimate kind in a public toilet,” she said.
“Court has to send a message to the community that they denounce this offending and (reinforce) the protection of women who are entitled and must feel safe in public utilities.”
The court was told Cao’s phone used in the offending will be returned to him after authorities figure out how to delete all its contents.
He left the court a free man and was bundled away from the chasing media pack by the son of a man who was jailed in a separate case heard before Cao’s sentencing.