Peter Hartley who worked in maintenance at the studios in Buckinghamshire, England, was arrested in June after the camera was spotted behind a grill in the toilets, PA said. A worker noticed light glinting off the lens of the motion-activated camera and subsequently removed the grill with a screwdriver.
The 50-year-old, who has previous convictions for placing hidden cameras, was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court Friday. Alongside his jail sentence, he will remain on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
The freelancer who found the camera said in a victim impact statement that the incident had impacted her mental health and caused her to suffer significant anxiety. "I am not eating or sleeping properly and I don't feel safe anywhere -- I check the whole house for cameras," she said, according to PA.
"I don't doubt that I will check every bathroom I go into for the rest of my life," she continued.
Judge Francis Sheridan, who sentenced Hartley, said the victim's life "has been devastated by a dirty-minded individual who preys on women using the lavatory where he can compromise them."
"This was carefully planned and an utter betrayal of trust of his employers," Sheridan added.
Hartley has three prior convictions for eight offenses. In 2009, he was convicted of planting spy cameras in a council building, while in 2016 he was convicted after placing a camera in a leisure center's changing rooms.
He had completed a sex offenders rehabilitation program eight months before planting the Pinewood Studios camera.
Hartley told police after his arrest: "I suppose sexual gratification is the main reason [for planting cameras] -- as I've learned from my past whenever something bad or stressful happens I act out."
Defending lawyer Irfan Arif said Hartley regretted his offenses and believed they were the result of sexual abuse of a child, as well as stress following the death of his father.
"Mr. Hartley says he can't explain the urge he has to record women like this, however, he acts on it in moments of stress and he understands he needs further help and guidance," Arif said.
The woman who found the camera told the court: "I don't believe (the defendant) has any remorse, this was a deliberate act using high definition, wide angle and vibration triggered equipment.
"He knew exactly what he was doing and must have seen the damage (to the victims) last time," she added.
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