A woman has spoken out about her horror after learning her next door neighbour was a paedophile when a raid of his home unearthed pictures he'd taken of her sunbathing.
Kim Leary, 39, says her neighbour Craig Dunderale was "always a weirdo" though she was shocked by the appalling discovery. She recounted how she saw his home being searched by officers who bundled computers into a van.
Police found more than 1,500 extreme porn pics as well as dozens of indecent photographs of children. As their investigation continued, they uncovered she had also been a victim of voyeurism.
Craig had been secretly taking pictures and videos of Kim sunbathing in her own garden whilst wearing a swimsuit. His stash included more than 50 pictures and videos of the mum-of-two taken while she was stuck at home because of lockdown.
He got a suspended sentence and has now moved away from Kim - but she said she has been left traumatised and is now moving house.
Kim, a nurse from Chester, couldn't spend time in her own garden any more because it reminded her of his sickening acts. She said: "I always knew he was bit of a weirdo - he was a loner, he didn't seem to have any friends or a partner.
"If anything I always felt sorry for him for it - never in a million years did I think he’d do anything like this. It turns out he had videos which zoomed in on my bum, boobs and feet - the way he did it was all so pervy.
"They were taken during lockdown, so it wasn't like I could even get away from it at the time. And after it all, he only got a suspended sentence. It feels like he's got away with it.
"Even though he doesn't live here any more, sitting in the garden still makes me paranoid. I can't erase that memory as long as I'm still here.
"I just want people to know what he did. People in his new area might not know what he does. He destroyed my life and still has a huge effect on me now - and he could do it to someone else."
Kim lived next to Craig for three years before she saw police raiding his home in April 2020. She recalled speculating to husband Iain Leary, 39, that it could be something to do with indecent images of children, when they saw police taking his electronic devices.
She feared the safety of her son, then three - but little did she know she was a victim. Craig returned back home a few days later on bail - but in March 2021, Kim got a call.
She said: "The police said they needed to see me. It turns out Craig had a stack of pictures and videos of me on his laptop."
It transpired police had originally visited Craig's home because they thought he might have indecent images of children, which turned out to be the case. It was during that search that the officers realised Kim was a victim of voyeurism.
Kim said: "He had three videos and over 50 images of me. I was wearing different clothes in them so they were taken over different days. In a lot I was wearing a bathing costume while sunbathing.
"They zoomed in on my bum, boobs, legs and feet. Some were even of me on all fours when I was picking something up off the floor in my swimming costume.
"When I found out, it was unbelievable. I'd always been nice to him if I passed him. I'd had no idea the whole time."
Kim had to remain living next door to Craig for several months until it went to court in September 2021. She found herself constantly on edge, knowing also that he had been found with indecent images of children on his computer.
She had a four-year-old son at this point - and by this time was also four months pregnant with a baby girl. He was also found with 1,667 extreme pornography images.
When it finally went to court, he pleaded guilty on all counts - making indecent photographs of a child, possessing extreme pornographic images, possessing a prohibited image of a child, and finally, voyeurism.
Kim read an emotional victim impact statement to the court, during which she burst into tears. She told him: "You deserve nothing but prison time in my opinion. I can honestly say I hate you."
Looking back, she said: "He wouldn't look at me. He was sat in the dock with his head down. I was shaking so much. I got upset when I was reading it - and my voice just went completely. I thought I'd be ok, but I wasn't."
Last year, Craig Dunderdale was sentenced to a ten-month prison term suspended for 18 months at Chester Magistrates Court. He was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours unpaid work.
He was told he must observe a 9pm-7am curfew at his parents' address for four months, and be subject to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order restricting his internet usage.
Dunderdale was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years, and he also had to pay £4,000 compensation to Kim. But Kim said no amount of compensation would make it easier to come to terms with what he did to her.
She said: "He's moved away from Chester and it feels like he just got away with it. People probably don't know who he is or what he's done where he is now.
"He could meet someone and they could get married and she'd have no idea about it - he isn't a safe person to be around."
Kim is now in the process of moving house away from his old home where they were once neighbours.
She said: "Even now he has gone, I still can't sit comfortably in my own garden and I never will while I'm still here. Here is forever tainted for me because it's always in my memory. Living next to him destroyed my life and I need to get away from it."
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