Accountant with a 'creepy' fetish for female footwear poses as a cop so he can take photos of women's feet and smell their shoes
- A 34-year-old has pleaded guilty to five counts of impersonating a police officer
- The Sydney accounted used a fake police badge to photograph women's feet
- The Magistrate described the incidents as 'creepy, disturbing and troubling'
A Sydney accountant has narrowly avoided jail time after concocting an elaborate scheme to photograph women's feet and 'sniff' their shoes for 'sexual gratification.'
Calvin Chow, 34, pleaded guilty to five charges of impersonating a police officer when he stood before Burwood Local Court in Sydney on Monday.
The court heard Chow, who is originally from Hong Kong, would approach women with a fake badge and claim to be a law enforcement officer.
Calvin Chow, 34, would approach woman with a fake police badge and ask to photograph their shoes and feet for an investigation
Chow told a woman at Town Hall station on December 1, he was on a case investigating 'people smuggling drugs through shoes,' police facts stated, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Two weeks later he knocked on the door of a woman's home in Strathfield and explained he had been tasked with following up inquiries about a number of women's shoes that had been stolen from a nearby shopping centre.
Chow used his fake police ID to enter the premises and inspect the victim's shoe collection.
When the woman handed over her shoes, she said Chow 'sniffed' each one.
But the bizarre foot-fetish-driven crime spree eventually unravelled in February when he approached a woman in Rhodes and introduced himself as 'Detective Gao'.
Chow explained to the victim he had reason to believe someone had planted a tracking device in her shoe.
He insisted she sit down so he could photograph her shoes and feet.
Calvin Chow (pictured) pleaded guilty to five charges of impersonating a police officer when he stood before Burwood Local Court in Sydney on Monday
The woman immediately suspected something was wrong and reported the encounter to authorities after taking a photo of Chow.
On March 23, an officer recognised Chow from the image and arrested him on a Strathfield street.
When Chow's phone was searched, the officers uncovered 'numerous' pictures of women's feet and shoes, which he had emailed to himself.
'One woman even appeared to lay on the ground with her feet in the air,' according to court documents.
Chow's lawyer Angela Cooney argued her client should be granted leniency due to his psychological illnesses which include fetishistic disorder and depression.
But Magistrate Daniel Reiss rejected the request for a section 32, on the grounds the offences were premeditated.
'It was a clearly planned act by him to have false identification and a set of stories he would tell the victims,' Magistrate Reiss told the court.
Magistrate Reiss described the incidents as 'creepy, disturbing and troubling' for the victims.
Chow was sentenced to a 12-month community correction order and will receive an $800 fine.
When the contents of Chow's phone were searched, the officers uncovered 'numerous' pictures of women's feet and shoes, which he had emailed to himself
