A dad who secretly filmed his wife and teenage stepdaughter in the bathroom for five years has escaped jail.

The father of two, who lives in Barking and Dagenham, but cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to 52 weeks suspended for two years yesterday meaning he won’t go to jail unless he reoffends.

Magistrate Jay Kakkad said: “If it wasn’t for your early guilty plea and previous good character you would have gone straight into custody.”

The man’s stepdaughter first discovered a device in the bathroom.

The court heard the stepdad filmed the girl and his wife numerous times. The stepdaughter even found a phone once propped up in the shower. But because of her age she thought nothing of it.

He was caught out on August 2 last year after the daughter got older. She told her mum about a key fob she found in his shaving bag which they found out was a camera after searching online.

After his arrest, he told police he had deleted some footage and had swallowed a memory card with the rest on.

The wife pleaded with magistrates not to send him to jail in a statement read in court.

“The events of August 2 changed the course of my life forever. They were horrifying to me and my children,” it read.

The court heard he still has contact with the couple’s youngest child and pays the mortgage on the family home.

Prosecuting, Matthew Groves said: “There was a gross abuse of trust. The offending progressed to become more sophisticated with recordings used for his gratification.”

Defending, Stephen Halloran argued his client took the “courageous step” of fully confessing.

He added that not getting enough counselling after the loss of a close relative at a young age had a significant impact on his behaviour and a spell in jail would lose him his job.

“The impact of any custodial sentence would be immediate financial hardship the victims would suffer,” he said.

On top of the suspended sentence he will spend seven years on the sex offenders register.

He was sentenced at at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court.