KNOWSLEY VOYEUR CRAIG MELIA CAUGHT FILMING WOMEN IN LIVERPOOL AND BEYOND

In June 2017, Craig Melia, a man from Knowsley, was at the center of a disturbing series of voyeuristic crimes that extended beyond his initial conviction. Melia, aged 25 at the time, had previously been sentenced to 27 months in prison after admitting to charges of sexual assault and voyeurism. His criminal activities involved secretly recording women without their consent, including intimate moments in private settings.

Melia’s offending came to light after police investigations uncovered a disturbing collection of digital files stored on his computer. Among these were folders labeled with the names of various women, including one of his victims. Inside these folders, authorities found explicit images of the woman on the toilet, photographs taken covertly up her skirt, selfies of her in a bikini, and holiday pictures from her Facebook account. These images painted a clear picture of Melia’s invasive behavior and his obsession with capturing women in private moments.

The court heard that Melia’s misconduct was not limited to the initial incident. He had previously admitted to sexually assaulting a female friend after she fell asleep during a shared taxi ride home from a night out in Liverpool. This incident was part of a broader pattern of inappropriate and criminal behavior.

Further evidence revealed that Melia had engaged in a more sinister campaign of voyeurism. He had hidden an old iPhone inside a shoe and placed it in a bathroom during a party, where he then recorded several women, including a teenager and her mother. Prosecutor Kim Egerton detailed that Melia had captured two videos: one showing the teenager getting in and out of the bath and drying herself, and another of her emerging from the shower. Additionally, Melia had compiled a collage of naked images of the teenager, along with photographs taken from her Facebook account, demonstrating a calculated effort to invade her privacy.

Moreover, Melia had recorded the teenager’s mother and two other women at the same party while they used the toilet. These recordings further exemplified the extent of his voyeuristic activities. The police interviewed Melia in prison last October after four new victims came forward, confirming that the recordings were of them. All four victims expressed feelings of violation and requested restraining orders to protect themselves from further contact.

During the court proceedings, Melia, appearing via video link from HMP Liverpool, admitted to five counts of voyeurism. The judge noted that in a pre-sentence report from June, Melia claimed his actions were “effectively a one-off,” driven by infatuation with his first victim. However, the court was informed that Melia had failed to disclose the extent of his offending, which included recordings of multiple women, casting his claims in a different light.

In addition to his existing sentence, Judge Murray sentenced Melia to an extra nine months in prison, to run consecutively. He also ordered Melia to register as a sex offender for ten years and imposed restraining orders lasting a decade to prevent further contact with his victims. The case highlights the serious nature of Melia’s criminal conduct and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to protect victims from invasive and illegal surveillance activities.