Spying ANU 'super brain' Junqi Huang to leave Australia 'under cloud of shame'

Despite his apparently extraordinary intelligence, Junqi Huang, 23, hid a camera in an ANU bathroom so poorly the victim of his failed attempt at voyeurism spotted it almost immediately.

He did not make police work hard to identify him as the perpetrator, having left videos on the small, cube-shaped device that showed him testing it in various locations prior to its discovery.

This forced the Chinese national to admit he had possessed the camera, but he claimed someone else may have assumed control of it before it was left in the shower and found seconds later on June 30 last year.

Special Magistrate Jane Campbell rejected that suggestion last week as she found Huang guilty of attempting to capture visual data in an invasion of privacy.

MORE COVERAGE OF THIS CASE:

When Huang returned to the ACT Magistrates Court for sentence on Thursday, prosecutor Erin Priestly said Huang's testing of the spy camera showed his offending involved "a significant degree of premeditation".

She said showering was something people rightfully expected to do in "complete and utter privacy", which Huang had tried to violate.

Defence barrister Kieran Ginges told the court Huang, who recently completed a mathematics degree with first class honours, planned to move home to China before August 23.

Mr Ginges said this was "a pity for him and perhaps a pity for the Australian academic community" because the former ANU Super Brain Society president had been "part of an elite group of high-functioning and high-achieving mathematicians".

"He's a very bright young man," the barrister said, tendering Huang's academic records to the court and saying the 23-year-old clearly had the potential to make positive contributions.

After reading the documents, Ms Campbell remarked that she wished her own university results resembled Huang's and that he should be "very proud" of his many high distinctions.

Mr Ginges asked that his client be fined or placed on a good behaviour order, arguing extensive media coverage of Huang's case constituted extracurial punishment.

"He is leaving Australia under a significant cloud of shame," Mr Ginges told the court.

Ms Campbell accepted that the "naming and shaming" of Huang was significant punishment and something that had caused him embarrassment, but she said courts relied upon this for deterrence.

MORE COURT AND CRIME NEWS:

She said spy camera crimes were becoming increasingly prevalent and harder to detect with the evolution of technology, referring to cases where devices had been "hidden in teddy bears".

Huang's offence, involving a poorly concealed camera on the floor of a shower cubicle, was, however, "quite unsophisticated".

Ultimately, Ms Campbell said she was satisfied Huang's experience of the court process had been salutary for him.

Also taking into account factors like his good prospects for rehabilitation and the fact there was little need to protect the ACT community from someone who was about to leave the country, she convicted Huang and imposed a 12-month good behaviour order.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: