A tattoo artist who snapped upskirt photos of a teenage girl as she waited to get inked laughed that his crime was ‘pretty funny’ when confronted.
El was just 18 and on her first night out on the popular King Street in Newtown, Sydney, in October 2019 when she made the ‘impulsive’ decision to immortalise her coming of age at King Street Tattoos.
As she finished flipping through the design book and was about to get the tattoo, she was approached by another young woman.
‘This lady comes up to me, and goes, “I just want you to know, do not get a tattoo here. That guy with the beard was bending down and taking photos up your skirt”,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
El confronted the tattooist, Simon Strelein, then 40, outside of the shop and filmed the altercation on her phone
El said she was barely been there 10 minutes before the inappropriate photos were taken without her knowledge.
She helplessly looked around for support, only to see the other employees at the tattoo parlour laughing and ‘egging him on’.
El confronted the tattooist, Simon Strelein, then 40, outside of the shop and filmed the altercation on her phone.
Strelein initially denied taking the photograph before El insisted she look at his phone, after which he casually asks ‘that photo?’
‘He proudly pulls out his phone to show me the photo and continually laughed. He told me I was being hysterical, that the police wouldn’t do anything.’
In the footage El can be heard asking him to delete it while her friend asks: ‘Why’d you take that? That’s inappropriate.’
A smirking Strelein turns to the woman, runs his hand over his beard and responds: ‘It was pretty funny’.
El confronted the tattooist, Simon Strelein, then 40, outside of the shop and filmed the altercation on her phone
El flagged down a passing police car and said Strelein continued to defend himself by telling officers it was ‘just a joke’
El said the tattoo artist went on to mock the pair and their outfits before calling them ‘basic girls’.
‘He said to me: “Look at this way, two basic girls walk in wanting a tattoo”, that’s how he justified taking the picture,’ she said.
‘He was justifying it because I was wearing a short skirt.’
El then flagged down a passing police car and said Strelein continued to defend himself by telling officers it was ‘just a joke’.
After some discussion, Strelein was charged with intentionally recording intimate images without consent under his legal name Simon Peberdy.
El said she initially felt ‘guilty about tarnishing the shop’ because she didn’t want everyone associated with it to be brought into the situation.
But she was disappointed when she found out there were at least three other people working that night who didn’t stop his behaviour.
‘He was so brazen. I haven’t gone out in Newtown since, and that was almost two years ago,’ she sad.
Strelein, also the singer for death metal band Diminish The Gods, said of his inappropriate photos: ‘It was pretty funny’
Strelein appealed his sentence and his conviction was overturned – he received just one year’s probation
He faced Newtown Local Court on December 3, 2019, and later pleaded guilty.
On February 4, 2020, he was convicted and given an 18-month community corrections order by Magistrate Glenn Bartley.
However, Strelein appealed his sentence and had it quashed by Judge Michael King in the NSW District Court on June 15, 2020.
His conviction was overturned and he received just one year’s probation.
Strelein continued to work at King Street Tattoo during the case and following his guilty plea and sentence, up until earlier this week.
His artist page on the business’ website noted he was ‘known for his sick sense of humour’ and specialised in ‘horror portraits’.
After realising he was still giving young women tattoos, El uploaded the video of the pair’s altercation to TikTok earlier this week.
The tattoo parlour was forced into a grovelling apology and announced Strelein was no longer with the company.
‘We acknowledge and respect the concerns that have been expressed regarding Simon Strelein’s behaviour, and are able to announce that he is no longer employed at King St Tattoo,’ it said.
King Street Tattoo was forced into a grovelling apology and announced Strelein was no longer with the company
‘We do not condone his actions in any way, and we apologise for the distress this has caused.
‘In regards to the delayed response on our end, we were not fully aware of the actions made on the night in question.
‘This has all come to light over the last 24 hours and we would like to apologise for not taking actions sooner.’
Strelein previously worked at Raven Tattoo & Body Piercing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and Skin Deep Tattoo in Newtown.
He is also the singer for death metal band Diminish The Gods.
Daily Mail Australia contacted King Street Tattoo for comment.
