ELLICOTT CITY, Md. – Maryland police say two women were videotaped inside of their own home.
The peeping Tom in this case was crafty enough to break into the home and install a camera, but not smart enough to keep that camera from capturing video of himself, which is now in the hands of the Howard County Police Department.
The videos show the suspect walking through the women’s home and eventually installing the camera inside of a closet.
He apparently kept it running, and went back into the condominium unit several times to retrieve the videos of the two women who live there, and move the camera to different locations.
Both of the victims are in their 20s.
“I’m surprised, but I guess I’m not completely shocked because I hear things like that.  But it’s surprising that it’s here,” said Trish Kirsch, who has lived in The Villages of Montgomery Run condominium complex for 10 years.
Other residents say they’d heard about the high-tech peeping Tom from a community watch email.
“Some stranger had entered an apartment with two girls living there, and he videotaped their bedrooms,” said Tayseer Elbeshir.
Police say it started in June — and the man kept coming back until recently, when one of the women found the camera, and called police.
“There doesn’t appear to have been forced entry so we’re not sure how he gained access to the apartment, and he apparently did it multiple times,” said Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department.
Each condominium in the complex is individually owned, and many of them are rented out; police have already checked maintenance people and contractors working in the area.
The locks on the women’s door have been changed — but police have not been able to identify the man who managed to video-tape himself committing a crime, yet.
“It’s a beautiful area; it’s a beautiful quiet neighborhood,” Elbeshir said. “So something like this to happen is weird.  It’s different.”
In some of those videos the man is wearing what might be a work uniform.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. – Maryland police say two women were videotaped inside of their own home.
The peeping Tom in this case was crafty enough to break into the home and install a camera, but not smart enough to keep that camera from capturing video of himself, which is now in the hands of the Howard County Police Department.
The videos show the suspect walking through the women’s home and eventually installing the camera inside of a closet.
He apparently kept it running, and went back into the condominium unit several times to retrieve the videos of the two women who live there, and move the camera to different locations.
Both of the victims are in their 20s.
“I’m surprised, but I guess I’m not completely shocked because I hear things like that.  But it’s surprising that it’s here,” said Trish Kirsch, who has lived in The Villages of Montgomery Run condominium complex for 10 years.
Other residents say they’d heard about the high-tech peeping Tom from a community watch email.
“Some stranger had entered an apartment with two girls living there, and he videotaped their bedrooms,” said Tayseer Elbeshir.
Police say it started in June — and the man kept coming back until recently, when one of the women found the camera, and called police.
“There doesn’t appear to have been forced entry so we’re not sure how he gained access to the apartment, and he apparently did it multiple times,” said Sherry Llewellyn, a spokeswoman for the Howard County Police Department.
Each condominium in the complex is individually owned, and many of them are rented out; police have already checked maintenance people and contractors working in the area.
The locks on the women’s door have been changed — but police have not been able to identify the man who managed to video-tape himself committing a crime, yet.
“It’s a beautiful area; it’s a beautiful quiet neighborhood,” Elbeshir said. “So something like this to happen is weird.  It’s different.”
In some of those videos the man is wearing what might be a work uniform.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A man found guilty last week of using hidden cameras to record video of two teenage girls while they were naked was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison.
Frank Landon Adams, 53, was found guilty of tampering with physical evidence, video voyeurism, and interception of oral communication, a third-degree felony.
A jury in Putnam County deliberated for less than an hour before delivering the verdict last Wednesday.
Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton said Adams earned the trust of his victims and then recorded them nude without their knowledge.
Authorities said evidence showed that he used a hidden camera to record two 16-year-old victims while they were using his guest bedroom in his Interlachen home.
Adams also videotaped one of the 16-year-old girls in her bedroom at her house with a hidden camera he placed in the victim’s closet, authorities said.
According to investigators, Adams destroyed physical evidence on his computer with a disk scrubbing program before the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office arrived to serve a search warrant.
Authorities said Adams recorded one of the victims showering in the guest bathroom, and then later, on the telephone after she is dressed. The defendant then went into the bathroom and began a conversation with the victim, which can be heard on recovered video evidence, investigators said.
JUNEAU – A 48-year-old Grafton man charged with secretly videotaping people in his bathroom was found guilty of three counts of misdemeanor invasion of privacy Friday.
Jon M. DeBelak, was sentenced to one year of probation with 60 days of conditional jail time.
According to the criminal complaint, DeBelak’s ex-wife called the police after her sons told her they had found hidden cameras in the bathroom at their father’s lake home in the town of Hubbard. They found a black and white camera hidden in a tissue box and a video camera disguised as an alarm clock, according to the complaint.
The boys had downloaded the images and videos from the cameras onto one of their cell phones to show their mother.
The complaint said that the boys and their mother recognized the woman on the videos as a friend of DeBelak from a water ski team.
The videos were taken between December 2011 and March 2012. The woman in the videos told officers that she had not been aware of the cameras.
Other conditions of probation include no direct or indirect contact or communication with the victim, her residence or her place of employment, except in emergency situations.
The man may not go onto the park grounds when the water ski team is practicing or has tournaments.
A provision prohibiting Debelak from speaking to his sons about the case has been removed. He is not required to register as a sex offender. He must pay a $2,500 fine plus costs.
Jacob Jensen, superintendent for Valdez City Schools, says a third secret camera was found hidden in a computer speaker in the teacher lounge at Gilson Middle School, but the device appeared to have never been activated.
The discovery of the third camera occurred a week ago Monday, while computer technician Nathan Gussert was replacing the computer that had been targeted for secret surveillance by custodial staff last spring.
“It was consistent with the other cameras that were found,” Jensen said in a telephone interview a week ago Tuesday. In this case, it appears the hidden camera had not been activated and no additional video or evidence of additional secret photography has been found.
According to a district press release, Gussert “found an additional wire coming out of the speaker underneath the monitor.”
Gussert “immediately called Scott Porritt, Network Operations Manager, who went over to GMS. Scott then called Melissa Reese, Director of Education Services, who went over to investigate,” the press release said. “At the same time, …Jensen was in a meeting with Police Chief Comer about another matter, so when Melissa called the Superintendent, the Superintendent asked Chief Comer to stay in his office so that they could look at the computer together.”
Reese brought the entire computer to Jensen and Comer. The speaker was pulled off and the case was opened and a camera was found.
The three then “powered up the computer and searched the hard drive for any video recording software or video files, none were found,” the press release said. “This appears to be part of the camera incident that was investigated in April and May of last (school) year and not a new issue. As this camera was probably set up to monitor the person on the computer, it appears to be consistent with the “inappropriate rationale” of monitoring evening custodial computer use.”
The original discovery of a secret camera hidden in a ceiling tile over the computer and a second camera that had been inside a digital clock in the lounge cause widespread outrage amongst district staff and parents, and two staff members resigned within days of the original discovery.
Last May, district superintendent Jacob Jensen displayed the clock radio that featured a hidden camera that had been found in a janitor’s closet in Valdez High School.
Staff and parents were further vexed when it became apparent the hidden cameras were not only legal under state and federal law, but that there was no rule or policy in the school district to prohibit secret video or photography.
Last summer, the board of education for Valdez City Schools rejected a draft policy that banned most secret video surveillance, but would have allowed the superintendent to use secret cameras with board permission.
The board called for a flat-out district wide ban on any secret or hidden cameras on school properties. So far, no new policy to ban secret or hidden cameras has been brought before the board.
Jensen said a new policy to ban the practice will be forthcoming in a future school board meeting.
“We’re adamant against no covert surveillance,” he said.
