Above: Patricia Marshall (r) with daughters Courtney (left) and Lindsay at Queens Park for answers to why a peeping tom was set free, Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Below: James Cedar is caught on a surveillance camera installed at the St. Catharines home of Patricia Marshall. (Sun Media/Michael Peake)

TORONTO -- A St. Catharines mom who videotaped a neighbour in a sex act in her backyard, only to see a criminal harassment charge withdrawn by the Crown, says she feels let down by the attorney general.

Tory MPP Christine Elliott raised the issue of Patricia Marshall and her two teenage daughters in the Ontario legislature yesterday, noting that the family was given no warning the charge against the young man caught peeping in their windows would be dropped.

"For Ms. Marshall and her family, the story isn't over," Elliott said. "Forced to shower in their basement, they're still living in fear. This is totally unacceptable in the province of Ontario."

'DEEPLY DISTURBING'

As revealed by columnist Mark Bonokoski in the Sunday Sun, Marshall obtained videotaped evidence that a teenage neighbour was watching her and her daughters while masturbating on their property.

Attorney General Chris Bentley said yesterday the conduct was "deeply disturbing.

"Any time a person's sense of privacy, their sense of dignity, is violated, it's deeply disturbing," Bentley said.

But the minister didn't contradict the position of the Crown, who concluded the charge of criminal harassment laid by police against then 18-year-old James Cedar should be withdrawn.

Bentley said the Crown had "responsibly" reviewed the circumstances of the case, and concluded that public safety would be best advanced by the individual undergoing treatment.

Outside the legislature, Marshall expressed her disappointment.

"I would have liked to have heard him say that he's going to look into it further, that he's going to try to proceed with something as far as the charges go so that we're no longer living in the situation that we're living in right now," Marshall said, flanked by daughters Lindsay, 20, and Courtney, 19.

Marshall said there have been no more backyard incidents recorded on her security camera, but she does hear whispers at the window.

The family has no way of knowing whether the young man is still receiving therapy, and there are no conditions placed on him to stay away from them, she said.

"We're distraught, we can't sleep. I'm actually off work right now because of this," she said. "What I'm doing is I'm videotaping my backyard so that I can make sure he's not going there ... I think that's my only security at this point."

Elliott also described Bentley's response as "entirely inadequate" and called on him to take direct action.

"I think it still remains that the attorney general could relay a charge and that the matter could proceed to a trial," she said. "And it's unbelievable to me that Ms. Marshall and her daughters don't have any protection to live in safety and comfort in their own home."

A Sun Media call to the young man's home in St. Catharines was not immediately returned, and the boy's father earlier declined an interview request from Bonokoski.

ANTONELLA.ARTUSO@SUNMEDIA.CA