HILO » A Hilo man must serve three months in jail for spying on women at a hostel.

Deputy Public Defender Belinda Castillo Hall says Paul Waathmad accepted a plea deal because he feared being deported back to Micronesia. She says the 31-year-old isn’t a pervert but got "caught up in a maelstrom of hysteria."

Prosecutors say Waathmad peered into the window at Hilo Tropical Gardens Hostel in 2011 as a 27-year-old woman was changing her clothes. During another incident a week later, prosecutors say he pulled back a shower curtain as a 57-year-old woman was showering.

Hostel owner Trish Owens says the incidents have affected her business, forcing her to hire a night watchman and put up cameras.

The Hilo Tribune-Herald reported today he apologized in court through a Yapese interpreter.