An electrician has been sentenced to 30 months' probation and ordered to write a letter of apology for installing a hidden camera in the ceiling of a women's restroom at the Prince George, B.C., airport.

The court heard that Ron Ballard, 50, of Prince George is a voyeur with an "aberrant sexual attraction" to women's washrooms that includes enjoyment in counting the stalls.

He no longer works at the city airport.

The judge ordered Ballard to continue counselling and prohibited him from using any kind of camera or entering any women's washroom.

His letter of apology to the airport's female staff is to be posted in their restroom.

Ballard was arrested in May 2007 soon after an airline employee noticed a hole and a camera in the ceiling of the washroom used mostly by staff.

Pleaded guilty

He admitted to police he'd been filming a women's toilet stall there for four to six months. He eventually pleaded guilty to secretly observing and recording nudity in a private place.

At the sentencing hearing Tuesday in Prince George, Ballard appeared in a business suit accompanied by his wife, but declined to say anything to the judge.

In a joint statement presented before sentencing, the defence and Crown lawyers noted Ballard co-operate with police and is seeking counselling.

Judge Michael Brecknell called Ballard's actions "an unusual offence" that invaded women's privacy and he noted the embarrassment the crime had caused the accused and his family.

The judge noted, from the pre-sentence report, that even counting women's washroom stalls provided Ballard with sexual gratification.

The judge also noted that Ballard has been thrown out of a Jehovah's Witness congregation and the couple has moved to Williams Lake.