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Convicted 'Upskirter' Confesses His Behavior 'Not Normal'

By Brian Maass

DENVER (CBS4)- A former state worker who took hundreds, if not thousands of pictures up the skirts of female co- workers, calls what he did "my illness, my sickness" on confession tapes obtained during a CBS4 Investigation.

"It's not normal," concedes Thanh Ta during an interrogation session with an investigator.

A judge sentenced Ta to 12 years in prison earlier this year, calling what the former Colorado Department of Education budget analyst did "horrible, horrendous."

Thanh Ta mug
Thahn Ta (credit: Denver District Attorney's Office)

A jury had found Ta guilty of stalking and invasion of privacy earlier this year for taking thousands of photos and videos up the dresses of his state colleagues and other women in public places. He had engaged in the practice since 2011 before being caught in 2017.

Some of his victims testified they are scarred for the rest of their lives by what Ta did to them.

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Thanh Ta (credit: CBS)

"Some were taken several photos per second," says Ta during one of the interrogation sessions. "That's the iPhone, you just hold it and it takes a lot of pictures."

RELATED: Prosecutors Praise Courage Of Victims In Workplace 'Upskirting' Case

Ta went on to say, "I'm not a terrible person. I didn't do anything, just photographs, that's my illness, my sickness. I just need to disappear and never come into contact with any of them ever again."

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Thanh Ta (credit: CBS)

Dr. Mary Ann Watson, a psychology professor at Metropolitan State University, said what Ta did is "considered voyeurism which is a mental illness."

She told CBS4 that an estimated 12 percent of adult males have had some experience in adulthood with exhibitionism or voyeurism.

CONGRESS PARK PEEPER 6PKG_frame_1466
(credit: CBS)

"It's so much more powerful to be doing something without people knowing what you're doing," said Watson.

She said a large percentage of men who engage in this kind of voyeuristic behavior have suffered sexual abuse themselves.

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Thanh Ta (credit: CBS)

At one point during a videotaped confession, Ta buries his head in his hands and cries, "There is nothing I can say. I betrayed all these people."

CBS4 Investigator Brian Maass has been with the station more than 30 years uncovering waste, fraud and corruption. Follow him on Twitter @Briancbs4.

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