May 2018: NZ's former top military attache to the US, is charged with attempting to make an intimate visual recording of another person in the toilets of NZ's embassy in Washington DC.
Details of indecent filming allegations against New Zealand's former top military attache can now be reported, including DNA evidence the prosecution says it will use in the case.
Today, it was revealed Commodore Alfred (Fred) Keating was the Kiwi citizen charged with trying to make an intimate visual recording of another person at New Zealand's embassy in Washington DC between July 26 and July 28 last year.
The naval attache was the most senior-ranked member of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) in the United States and the head of defence staff. The 58-year-old military leader from Northland, who had a more than 40-year career, was the face of diplomacy, negotiating and strategy for the NZDF to US forces.
He was also the assistant chief of Navy at Defence Headquarters in Wellington and the commander of the Royal New Zealand Naval base at Devonport before being posted to the Washington embassy.
Keating is accused of planting a hidden camera in one of the embassy's unisex bathrooms, which was later discovered by staff.
Now, Justice Grant Powell has released details of Keating's alleged offending.
Alfred Keating, a former high-ranking military attache, makes his way to court. Photo / Michael Craig
Court documents released by the High Court state that on July 27, 2017, a small covert camera was found, set to capture and record movement, in a unisex bathroom on the embassy's third floor.
Commodore Alfred (Fred) Keating is New Zealand's head of defence staff and defence and naval attache to the United States. Photo / Supplied
It had been mounted in a heating duct in the bathroom, at a height and direction to record people who used the toilet.
About 60 people work at the embassy, in Washington's Embassy Row, during any given day.
The prosecution alleges the camera was found about 1.30pm when it fell on to the floor of the bathroom.
New Zealand Police travelled to Washington to investigate, and the camera was returned to New Zealand for forensic examination.
Court documents state that the analysis revealed someone activating the device about 9am on July 27.
It captured 19 images of people using the bathroom over five hours.
Prior to being a defence attache to the US, Keating was the commander of the NZ Navy base at Devonport. Photo / Doug Sherring
All of the people were wearing clothes. A thick layer of dust on the homemade platform the camera was mounted on indicated the camera had been in place for many months.
In New Zealand, police executed a search warrant while Keating was in the country in November last year.
No indecent images were found but the prosecution alleges examination of Keating's personal computer showed he had installed driver software for the camera device on July 25. Keating's DNA allegedlymatched that found on the SD card in the camera.
Defence lawyer Graeme Newell entered a not guilty plea and elected trial by jury on Keating's behalf at an earlier court appearance.
The sole issue of the trial will be identification, Newell told Judge Kevin Glubb.
