After her boyfriend took naked pictures of her while she was asleep, she was dressed and was being cleaned up by him, a mother-of-1 has said she will never trust another man.

Lucy Lear (24 years old), from Devon began dating Dale Bastin (26) in 2013. They had a child together in 2015, and Lucy is now 24. They split briefly but then they got back together again and made plans to move in. 

However in December 2019, the student nurse was devastated when she discovered a stash of over 30 photographs of her naked body, which had been taken secretly over a three year period, on his phone. 

Bastin was arrested in April 2020 for voyeurism after she called the police. 

In July 2021,  he pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism and was handed a six-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, 100 hours unpaid community work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He was also put on the sex offenders’ register for seven years, ordered to pay £500 costs and banned from any further contact with Lucy.

The Sun was informed by the student nurse that she had given up her right to anonymity and said: “I loved Dale Bastin, but after all he has done to me, I don’t believe I will ever trust another man.”

Lucy Lear, 24, from Devon, revealed she 'won't ever trust a man again' after her boyfriend secretly took explicit pictures of her naked while she slept, showered and dressed

Lucy Lear, 24, from Devon, revealed she ‘won’t ever trust a man again’ after her boyfriend secretly took explicit pictures of her naked while she slept, showered and dressed

Lucy stated that she felt love-struck at 16 years old when she met Bastin and was happy to have him as her boyfriend.

Lucy and Grace welcomed their baby girl Grace in 2015. Bastin didn’t commit fully to Lucy’s move.

Lucy was determined to give her daughter a happy life and she began nursing training. Bastin eventually left Lucy. 

He said that he wanted to have a family and the couple were reunited. They made plans to live together.  

Then, one evening she saw him looking at his phone, while they were both watching television together. 

“One picture immediately caught my attention – it was a naked bum,” she said.

Lucy said she was a love-struck 16-year-old when she first got together with Bastin, and felt like 'the luckiest girl in the world' to be dating him (pictured)

Lucy claimed that when Bastin first met her, she was 16 years old and was in love. She felt she had been ‘the luckiest girls in the world’ (pictured). 

“But it didn’t have anything to do with any other woman, it was my naked bum sticking out under my duvet.

The folder was opened and I began to scroll through the pictures. I was represented in over thirty images. Based on the décor, it was obvious that many of them were more than three years old.

She found some of the images had been taken while she was asleep  in bed naked, while others had been taken secretly through the shower curtain while she washed. 

Another picture shows her naked, reaching for clothes from a drawer.

According to her, some images were very explicit and showed her intimate parts. She also described her boyfriend pulling her pants aside as she was sleeping so that they could take pictures.  

He was terrified and she told him to go. She met him again the following day to confront him. He did not explain it to her. 

Lucy was shocked when she found naked images had been taken while she was asleep in bed, while others had been taken secretly through the shower curtain while she washed

Lucy was stunned to discover that naked photos had been taken in her bed while she was sleeping, and others were taken through the curtain of her shower while she was washing.

Later, she called the police to report that the situation was ‘a grey zone’

A member of the domestic violence and sexual abuse team called the mother-of-1 and asked her to give a statement.

Four months later, in April 2020, Dale was charged with  voyeurism and pleaded not guilty. 

Lucy was ‘tormented’ with nightmares and diagnosed with PTSD, before finally, in July 2021, Dale confessed to the crime and pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism.

Lucy called this sentence “pathetic” and said that Dale had changed my life in a profound way. She also added, “I think he should go to prison.”

She said that it was a ‘heartbreaking’ thought to think of her daughter growing up without her father. 

Although exposure cases and voyeurism cases rose by 59% in the last six years, police prosecutions almost doubled within six years 

The Mail on Sunday reports that prosecutions in police cases of exposure or voyeurism almost fell by half over the past six years. However, cases have increased by staggering 59%.

These shocking statistics reveal how widespread the crimes against women and girls in the country.

Even though there has been a significant increase in the number of cases being filed, police have not prosecuted as many suspects since 2014.

After Wayne Couzens’ conviction, officers were criticised for not treating the crime as seriously. He had publicly revealed himself to police on several occasions before being convicted.

Independent Office for Police Conduct has been investigating police failures to record claims of Couzens flashing while he was serving in Kent Police’s 2015, as well as three days before his murder and rape of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.

Campaigners have attacked the force’s attitude towards these offences, with Emma Ball (radio presenter) claiming she was made fun of by officers after she told them she thought Couzens had shown her in 2008 when she said she believed he was Couzens.

Mail on Sunday examined the data from the Home Office and discovered that prosecutions of exposure and voyeurism nationwide have declined to 594 since 2014.

In 2016, prosecutions were maintained at 1,023; however, by 2018, they had fallen to 721 and continued their decline to the end of last year.

In the meantime, reported offenses have risen sharply from 6,420 in 2013-14 up to 10,203 this March.

The Victims Commissioner, Vera Baird, attacked the police for not prosecuting and demanded that exposure and cases of voyeurism be dealt with’seriously.

She said: ”Indecent exposure and voyeurism are serious crimes that should be recognised as a red flag about a man’s approach to women.

Victims of crime must be treated with seriousness and the police should investigate and make arrests.

“It’s inexcusable” that Mail on Sunday’s statistics show that prosecutions have nearly halved and complaints almost doubled.

“Victims are reporting crimes which could lead to rape, or worsening, but hit a brick wall.”

Home Office data has shown previously that the sharp increase in crime since 2014 was due to reductions in officer ranks.

The fact that charges for offences related to exposure or voyeurism exceed the national average was highlighted by police.

Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for violence against women and girls, said: ‘Police take these reports very seriously, investigate, and work with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to make a joint decision on charging and prosecute where there is evidence to do so.

‘One of my highest priorities in combatting violence towards women and girls, is significantly improving quality investigations and the outcomes across policing.

“We are aware that these offences could be precursors to other types of sexual offenses. Therefore, police will conduct risk assessments to determine the best way to prevent them from committing further offences.