Victim says watching footage of Mir Heidari taking photos made her physically sick
WINNIPEG, Man. — A Winnipeg chemist who secretly took photos and videos of two female co-workers’ buttocks and backsides at their workplace has been granted a conditional discharge with three years of probation.
Seyed Reza Mir Heidari, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism contrary to section 162(1)(c) of the Criminal Code. Judge Carlson delivered the sentencing decision on Sept. 17, 2026, in Manitoba provincial court.
The court heard that between Nov. 1, 2024, and Jan. 9, 2025, Mir Heidari took photos and videos of two female co-workers in their mutual workplace. The images depicted the victims’ faces, backsides, and buttocks. The victims were fully clothed. Mir Heidari admitted the photos and videos were taken in a place where the victims had a reasonable expectation of privacy and without their knowledge or consent.
Mir Heidari, an Iranian-born chemist, was hired as a Senior Chemist at Future Transfer Inc. in Winnipeg in October 2021. His duties included supervising two laboratories and overseeing the interviewing and hiring of new employees. He hired both victims, identified in the decision as J and A. At the time of the offences, J was 21 and A was 27. Both worked in a laboratory with Mir Heidari, who was their direct supervisor.
Only designated employees could access the laboratories with a key card, and there was a policy of no cell phones in the labs. Between November 1, 2024, and January 9, 2025, the victims noticed Mir Heidari filming them from behind, which concerned them. A co-worker helped them access the laboratory’s video surveillance footage, which showed Mir Heidari pointing his cell phone at the victims’ buttocks regions on multiple occasions.
On Jan. 9, 2025, the victims filed a formal complaint with Future Transfer’s Human Resources department. Mir Heidari was immediately suspended. On Jan. 11, 2025, the victims contacted Winnipeg Police Service and each provided a video-recorded interview. On Jan. 13, 2025, the company’s HR manager advised a WPS officer that Mir Heidari’s employment had been terminated and provided the surveillance footage.
On Jan. 18, 2025, WPS obtained a search warrant for Mir Heidari’s apartment. He was arrested, and a cell phone on his person was seized. Police located his Iranian passport in the apartment. Mir Heidari gave a statement after speaking to counsel, admitting he took photographs of the victims’ buttocks but said he did not think it was illegal to do so. He said he did not send the images to anyone.
A forensic analysis of his cell phone located 55 images, some duplicates, of the victims. An additional 82 images and short videos, some duplicates, of the victims were in a folder on the phone called “project session.”
Both victims filed Victim Impact Statements. J stated the incident changed her life forever, affecting her mental and physical health, her career, and her sense of safety. She felt objectified and sexualized in a place where she was just doing her job. She could not sleep, was scared to leave the house alone, and was afraid to encounter Mir Heidari. She struggled to do her job, took stress leave in March 2025, and began therapy. She ultimately decided not to return to Future Transfer. As a result of losing her income and benefits, she could no longer afford therapy and had to stop physiotherapy that was helping a disorder she was diagnosed with due to clenching her jaw under stress. She continues to have jaw pain every day.
A said she felt violated. Watching him take photos on the video footage made her physically sick. His actions took away her sense of safety, dignity, and ability to trust. She is now hypervigilant and has felt embarrassed, humiliated, angry, and betrayed. She left her job at Future Transfer and said the incident changed how she sees the world.
A Community Victim Impact Statement was also filed on behalf of individuals in Canada impacted by voyeuristic imagery. It noted that all such individuals depicted are at risk of having their images shared online, and that one of the most common fears is being identified and whether the images may resurface.
The Crown recommended a suspended sentence with three years probation, with only the first 18 months supervised. The Crown said a criminal conviction was needed to recognize the seriousness of the offences and also sought a DNA order and an order of forfeiture. Mir Heidari sought a conditional discharge, arguing that given his personal circumstances, a conviction would be disproportionate and that a conviction was not necessary to effect deterrence and denunciation.
The court heard Mir Heidari was born in Tehran, Iran, and relocated to Dubai when he was young. His relationship with his father has been difficult, and he reported his father was physically and verbally abusive. He was sent by his father to Canada at 17 to complete high school, and he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba. He is married to an American citizen he met at the university. His wife returned to the United States in January 2026 after a Removal Order was issued. Mir Heidari said he is unable to work in or enter the United States because Iran is one of seven banned Muslim countries. Both told the author of the Pre-Sentence Report they are committed to their marriage, but the future of their relationship is unknown given the uncertainties surrounding their residencies.
At the time of the offences, Mir Heidari was experiencing what defence counsel described as a professional and personal crisis. He found his job very stressful, was working long hours, and described the work environment as stressful and toxic with low staff morale. He felt overwhelmed and powerless. During this time, his wife’s inability to work in Canada meant they were apart geographically, which fractured their intimacy and communication. He also felt culturally isolated and lacked supports. He said he relied on pornography as a mechanism to cope. He advised the PSR author that since March 3, 2025, he has been working full time at Quantum Molders Inc. as a quality control manager. He does not have issues with alcohol or drugs.
The judge noted denunciation and general deterrence are paramount in sentencing for these offences, but other objectives also require consideration, and restraint must be exercised by imposing the least restrictive sentence that can adequately address the relevant objectives. The judge found the actions were not the most extreme type of voyeuristic offending seen in the case law, but noted the offending had significant impact on the victims. The judge also noted Parliament has increased the maximum sentence for voyeurism from five years to 10 years.
The judge found several mitigating factors, including Mir Heidari’s guilty plea, which saved the victims from testifying. Although on arrest he did not seem to understand he had done anything wrong, the PSR made clear that with time and programming he recognizes the wrongfulness of his actions and now expresses genuine victim empathy, remorse, and insight. Between January 28, 2026, and April 29, 2026, he participated in weekly group programming for sexual offending with the Restorative Justice Program, in addition to three individual sessions. In June 2026, he completed all requirements of diversion. He was described as an active and engaged participant who showed a genuine desire to understand and internalize the material, with a high level of accountability and regret.
Other mitigating factors included his wife’s support, gainful employment, good education, a low risk to reoffend generally, an average risk to reoffend sexually, his relative youth at 29, no criminal record, and no breaches of his undertaking since January 18, 2025.
Aggravating factors included that the offending constituted a breach of his position of authority over the victims as their supervisor, creating an obvious power imbalance. The offending took place in the victims’ workplace where they were entitled to feel safe. There were two victims, both sustained real and significant impact, the offending took place over two months, and there were many images and videos taken.
The judge noted collateral consequences, including that Mir Heidari lost his job as a Senior Chemist, that a criminal record could reasonably be expected to negatively impact his future professional opportunities, and that upon conviction he faces potential significant immigration consequences. Defence counsel advised that given his work visa status, he would be liable to deportation simply on conviction. The judge noted that if deported, Mir Heidari would be deported to Iran, which is at war with the United States. His wife is an American citizen, and it is unlikely he could go to the United States or that his wife could go to Iran, meaning the practical result is likely that they would not be able to be in the same country.
The Manitoba Court of Appeal in R. v. McFarlane endorsed that for voyeurism, the range of sentence for a first offender on a guilty plea is between a discharge and 12 months’ imprisonment.
In considering a conditional discharge, the judge found it was in Mir Heidari’s interests to receive one. But for this offence, he is a person of good character with no prior convictions. The judge found specific deterrence is not required, as his arrest, being charged, and navigating the criminal proceedings is sufficient. Before sentencing, he underwent rehabilitative programming that helped him develop insight. The judge found a criminal conviction may indeed have significant adverse repercussions in terms of job opportunities, immigration consequences, and his marriage, and that a sentence resulting in a conviction would be crushing given the significant professional and personal collateral consequences.
On whether a conditional discharge would be contrary to the public interest, the judge found that given Mir Heidari’s lack of record, rehabilitative work done, remorse and insight, the significant collateral consequences that could result from a conviction, and the fact he is well educated and has held a full-time job long term, it is in the public interest that he be able to move forward without a criminal record so he can continue being a contributing member to Canadian society. The judge found a conviction is not required in the circumstances to effect specific or general deterrence or denunciation, and that those objectives, in addition to ongoing rehabilitation and some reparation of harm, can be met by a conditional discharge with conditions of probation.
Mir Heidari was granted a conditional discharge with three years of probation, concurrent on both offences. The first 18 months will be supervised, and the remainder unsupervised. Conditions include keeping the peace, appearing before the court when required, notifying of any change of name, address, employment, or occupation, abstaining from communicating directly or indirectly with both victims, and abstaining from attending within 200 metres of where either victim lives, works, goes to school, or worships. For the first 18 months, he must also report to probation, attend and complete all counselling, programming, and assessments directed by the probation officer, and perform 100 hours of community service work within the first 17 months.
The judge also ordered a DNA order, finding that given the surreptitious and repeated nature of the offending and the limited impact on Mir Heidari’s privacy and security, the order should be made. He must attend a WPS detachment within 45 days to provide a sample. The judge also ordered forfeiture of the phone on which the offending images and videos were located. All other items seized, including his passport and birth book, are to be returned to him. Costs and victim surcharge are $404, with three months to pay.
A publication ban under section 486.4 prohibits publishing any information that could disclose the identity of the victims.
