‘Violated’
A granddad filmed up the skirts of more than 100 women in Tesco. George Chilvers’ crimes went on for 15 years.
The exact number of people who have fallen victim to the ex-civil servant, 73, is unknown. Chilvers trembled in the dock when he was handed a 28 month sentence, the Liverpool Echo reports.
He was also made the subject of 10-year sexual harm prevention order was ordered to sign sex offenders register for the next decade.
Liverpool Crown Court heard one woman was shopping at a Tesco in Haydock in 2024 when she noticed Chilvers ‘acting strangely towards a female who seemed oblivious to his actions’.
He was seen crouching down next to a woman, before placing his mobile phone underneath her skirt with the camera pointing up.
The grandad, of Elgin Avenue, Ashton-in-Makerfield, was reported to Merseyside Police. He was finally caught after being recognised in CCTV footage when he returned to the store six days later.
After being followed by a staff member to the car park, his car registration was then taken and he was tracked to his home.
Electronic devices were seized and a total of 426 videos were found. At least 100 women had been targeted – and a schoolgirl.
Police able to identify victims by trawling CCTV and cross-referencing footage with payment records.
On woman said in a statement: “I was literally engulfed in tears. It’s like, when speaking to family members, I’m masking how I truly feel. It’s as if I’m starting to realise how much it’s really affected me.
“I’ve had my normality violated in such a horrible way. Never in the world could I have imagined such a crime could take place in a crowded, well-lit supermarket. It’s changed me as a person, but I can’t let it break me.”
Another said: “My immediate reaction was one of disbelief. My next reaction was one of feeling stupid, because I hadn’t noticed what happened to me. I was brought up to be independent and responsible, and I feel like I’ve let myself down. I have a daughter, and I hope she’s more savvy than me.”
Peter White, defending, said Chilvers had no previous convictions, adding: “This is a gentleman of 73 years of age. He has been married now for over 50 years. He has two grown up children. He has two grandchildren. He has understandably been estranged from his children and grandchildren as a result of this offending.
“This gentleman is a retired civil servant who enjoyed a good career, with nothing to suggest that this type of thing was lingering in the background. Unfortunately, he has acted on his urges repeatedly.
“Mr Chilvers is genuinely remorseful and accepts the impact that he has had on the victims. Since he was arrested, it would appear that the offending did come to an end. His wife remains supportive, however difficult that may have been for her. He has the type of health conditions that someone would expect for a man of his age.”
Chilvers admitted outraging public decency; two counts of recording an image under clothing without consent; two charges of operating equipment under clothing without consent; possession of an indecent image of a child; and making an indecent image of a child.
Sentencing, Judge David Swinnerton said: “I am told that you are of impeccable previous good character, having been a civil servant until your retirement. Impeccable good character counts for little when you have spent years secretly photographing up women’s skirts.”I have seen what your modus operandi was, the way you spotted women in skirts. It did not matter what age they were, given that you have done it to well over 100 women in pretty much any age range. You were targeting females in skirts for your own sexual pleasure.
“You followed one victim around the aisles after spotting her in a knee length skirt. When she was reaching something at the top of a shelf, you took the opportunity to kneel down and pretend to take something from a low shelf and, with your phone in your hand, held it under her skirt.
“You did that to over 100 women. We will probably never know exactly how many. There is little I can think of which is more ordinary in every day life than doing your shopping, perhaps with your 13-year-old daughter as you pick her up on the way home in her uniform. We all do that. That is very much part of every day life.
“One victim personal statement expresses shock at thinking that, even in a supermarket, even in her 50s, she is not safe from a grotesque invasion of privacy, carried out by you. Most of them did not know that you had done it. Most of them will never know that you did it, because they have never been identified, but that makes it nonetheless grotesque.
“The sexual purpose for which you did it makes it all the more grotesque. The words used by them are a violation, or defiled. That is how they feel, and that is not surprising. There cannot be much more of a degrading violation than doing your shopping and having some old man film up your skirt for his own sexual gratification.
“In the pre-sentence report, you use the word opportunistic to describe your offending. I reject that. You do not take a sudden opportunity 100-plus times. This was planned and quite deliberate. This is what you did when you visited the supermarket. Men like you must be deterred from walking around supermarkets violating the privacy of women in a sexual way.”
