A 39-year-old Saanich man pleaded guilty to what is believed to be the most prolific case of voyeurism ever prosecuted in Canada.
Investigators identified 652 individual women and girls as victims.
On Jan. 16, 2024, the Saanich Police Special Investigation Section (SIS), along with the assistance of the British Columbia Integrated Child Exploitation Unit (ICE), began an investigation in voyeurism after a SIS detective was made aware of voyeuristic photos and videos being uploaded to an image-based social media site from somewhere in Saanich.
The investigation led to identifying Yin Yeung Derek Chan as a suspect.
Chan had previously been convicted of voyeurism after being found filming a woman in a mall change room in the Victoria area.
He was arrested from his Saanich home on April 11, 2024.
Police executed a search warrant, and detectives seized devices containing thousands of images and over 28 hours of offending video that was recorded between April 1, 2017, and Nov. 30, 2023.
All video was filmed without the knowledge or consent of the women and girls inside businesses, at beaches, and through the windows of private residences across Victoria.
Police reviewed the footage that was seized and determined that 652 separate women and girls had been captured in the photos and videos and that Chan had been posting the imagery online.
Detectives noted that many of the images were posted to and viewed on websites around the world, and formal requests were made to have them removed.
Chan was released with conditions following his initial arrest in April 2024 and was rearrested on Jan. 30, 2025. He was detained by the court and has remained in custody since then.
On Oct. 1, 2025, Chan pleaded guilty to several criminal offences related to voyeurism, including recording people in a place where they reasonably expect privacy, observing and recording people for a sexual purpose, making child sexual abuse and exploitation material, publishing a recording that was obtained in the commission of a crime, and breaching three separate conditions.
Of the 652 women and girls, detectives were able to formally identify and contact 40 victims, some of whom delivered victim impact statements for sentencing.
Greater Victoria Victim Services assisted many of the identified victims.
On Thursday, Judge Mrozinski sentenced Chan.
For counts one and two, related to voyeurism, he was sentenced to 36 months on each count to be served concurrently. For count four, making child exploitation material, he was sentenced to 36 months to be served concurrently. For count three, distribution of child exploitation material, he was sentenced to 18 months to be served consecutively.
Chan was also sentenced to nine months for breaching his condition to not possess a cellphone and six months for breaching his probation order by failing to attend counselling. Both counts are to be served concurrently.
Chan’s complete sentence is 54 months (or four and a half years). After credit for pre-sentence custody, he is left to serve 935 days or about 31 months.
He is also subject to being on the Sex Offender Registry for 20 years and must provide a DNA sample to the court.