ADFA Cadet Faces 79 New Charges Over Hidden Camera Allegations
Quick Look
- An Australian Defence Force Academy cadet, Tain Stephens, faces 79 new charges, including child abuse material offenses, for allegedly using a hidden camera in a women's bathroom.
- He pleaded not guilty and remains on bail.
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Why It Matters
An Australian Defence Force Academy cadet is facing additional charges after allegedly using a hidden camera in a women's bathroom. The recording device was allegedly found by a female cadet in a soap dispenser.
An army officer cadet accused of allegedly hiding a camera inside a soap dispenser to secretly film women at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), is facing a further 79 charges.
In the ACT Magistrates Court today, Tain Stephens pleaded not guilty via telephone to all of the additional charges, including 77 charges of capturing intimate visual data, one count of possessing, controlling, producing, supplying or obtaining child abuse material, and one count of using a carriage service to transmit sexual material without consent.
He has already pleaded not guilty to five counts of capturing intimate visual data.
Police allege the 20-year-old officer cadet was living at ADFA in Canberra when he hid a camera inside a soap dispenser in a female bathroom to capture intimate recordings of women.
The recording device was allegedly found by a female cadet who entered the bathroom in one of ADFA's residential buildings on May 9.
Police allege a search of the academy uncovered 17 soap dispensers that had been tampered with in the same way, across multiple female bathrooms.
A search warrant was executed at Mr Stephens's accommodation the next morning.
Court documents say he was later found by ADF members "in a waste cupboard" of his accommodation building, before officers seized his mobile phone and other electronic devices.
Mr Stephens declined to take part in a police interview.
When police tried to access his phone, he allegedly provided several possible pass codes, but none worked.
He told investigators he had recently changed the pass code, and the device was seized for further forensic examination.
Court documents tendered after his first appearance alleged more than 40,000 files were found on his devices, with police warning further forensic examination could "reveal more victims" and additional intimate recordings.
Investigators have so far identified five separate recordings of women showering or undressing.
The documents also revealed Mr Stephens had previously been investigated by Military Police between January and March 2025, over allegations he tampered with soap dispensers in cadet bathrooms.
He was transferred between residential buildings following those complaints.
Mr Stephens has been suspended from the Australian Defence Force and remains on bail in Queensland.
The case will return to court in September.
Open Questions
- How many victims were there?
- Were there other accomplices?
- What is the full extent of the material found?