Man who was awaiting sex assault sentencing pleads guilty to watching couple
Crown says voyeurism has increased on P.E.I. in the last year and a half
Warning: This story contains details some may find disturbing
A Prince Edward Island man who pleaded guilty to a voyeurism charge has been sentenced to five months in jail, which will be extend the sentence he is already serving for an unrelated sexual assault.
Wabaningosi Dingwell, who also goes by Tim Dingwell, appeared in person at the Charlottetown provincial courthouse Monday. He pleaded guilty to the voyeurism charge, while the Crown stayed a charge of sending an indecent text message.
Dingwell, 44, continued to live in the community after being found guilty of sexually assaulting his former spouse in March of 2024. A full year passed between that guilty verdict and him being sentenced in March to 14 months in jail.
It was during that year that Dingwell committed the offence for which he was sentenced Monday.
Violation of 'sexual integrity'
In reading an agreed statement of facts, Crown prosecutor John Diamond told the court the victim was familiar to Dingwell.
On Sept. 8, she was engaging in sexual activity with her partner in her second-storey apartment when she went to close her curtains.
That's when she saw Dingwell standing outside on a ladder, watching them.
He later sent the woman text messages "alluding to what he had seen."
Police were called and Dingwell was taken to the police station, where he originally denied having watched the couple but acknowledged he was highly intoxicated at the time.
Officers sought a search warrant for his phone that revealed those messages relating to the incident.
Joint recommendation
Diamond and Dingwell's legal aid lawyer, Julia O'Hanley, came up with a joint recommendation for the crime: five months in jail.
Diamond noted that it was hard to find other cases with similar circumstances for the purpose of citing sentencing precedents. The female victim was stressed in the aftermath of the incident and suffered emotionally, he said, adding that Dingwell was the sole person responsible for that.
The Crown prosecutor, who characterized the incident as "a violation of the victim's sexual integrity," noted that voyeurism offences have been increasing on P.E.I. over the last 18 months.
O'Hanley spoke about how Dingwell is Indigenous and has been disconnected from his culture for most of his life. She said he has been taking steps to become more integrated, including participating in a sweat lodge ceremony and engaging with the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I.
"Our hope is that [the connection] will be most helpful in his rehabilitation efforts going forward," she said.
His lawyer told the judge that the incident was a wake-up call for Dingwell to re-evaluate his relationship with alcohol, and that he has been sober since October.
One can certainly appreciate the distress the victim would feel as a result of this invasion of privacy.— Judge Jeff Lantz
O'Hanley also pointed out that Dingwell did not take any photos or videos of what he observed.
"The one positive thing to come from this was there was no paper trail," she said, noting that such a thing could potentially re-victimize the woman.
No victim impact statement was submitted in the case.
"One can certainly appreciate the distress the victim would feel as a result of this invasion of privacy," said Jeff Lantz, P.E.I.'s chief provincial court judge. "It would be very significant to have that happen."
Lantz accepted the joint recommendation of five months and made it a consecutive sentence. That means Dingwell's time in custody on the voyeurism incident will start after he finishes the sexual assault sentence he's currently serving. He cannot serve them at the same time.
The judge knocked 18 days off the latest sentence for the 12 days Dingwell spent in jail in October.
Dingwell will also be on probation for 18 months and has to stay away from the victim during that time.
"Hopefully he finds some support in his culture," the judge said.
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