JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man was arrested last month and is accused of placing hidden cameras in a woman’s bedroom and recording her, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
The 38-year-old suspect was a handyman who was doing wiring work in the victim’s home and attic. The arrest report said the man left one of his phones in the home so the woman could “use it for Wi-Fi purposes.”
The woman said she looked through the phone he left behind and found an app called Home Eye that allows the use of a device’s camera as a security monitor.
According to his arrest report, the woman found two active recordings, one of her bedroom where another woman was sleeping and one of her living room.
She said she raised her hand to confirm it was a live recording and she saw herself.
Police said she discovered the suspect had a three-month subscription to the app which allowed him to record 24/7 and store the footage for two weeks.
She said she found footage of herself naked in her bedroom from days before and she took her phone and recorded the footage.
The victim told investigators that the man placed cameras in her home before, but she found them and confronted him about it.
JSO said he told her it was because he was obsessed with her.
Investigators said she didn’t report it initially because she was afraid of retaliation. He’s also texted her statements like, “If I can’t have you, nobody can.”
Police then searched her bedroom for the hidden cameras and found one in the base cover of a ceiling fan where a hole was present for the lens.
The camera was pointed at mirrors that reflected the victim’s bed. It was powered by a pack that had wiring running into the roof and attic.
The other woman was there when the camera was found and said that the suspect had done work in the attic in the past year for “rodent issues.”
JSO then told the woman to text the man to come back to the home to get his phone and officers parked a few blocks away.
The woman texted JSO that he was in the neighborhood and the suspect saw the marked police cars. He then turned away from the victim’s home and ran a stop sign.
Police stopped him for a traffic violation, took him into custody and transported him back to the victim’s home.
JSO then searched for the second camera found in the living room. Police saw a DVD player with three missing screws and the two remaining screws had tool markings.
They took apart the DVD player and found another camera with a power pack spliced into the power supply of the DVD player.
During questioning, the man said he did leave his phone and described it as a spare and he did work in the attic a year ago with another man who he said was helping him.
The other man told police that he only helped him for a little while and said that the suspect was by himself in the attic.
The suspect said the other man was working with him because the woman told him it was for “her safety.”
He was asked why her safety would be affected with him inside her home and police said he hesitated to answer and said it was due to past issues and fights they had and didn’t want to talk about it.
The suspect also said he didn’t know about any other cameras placed in the home.
JSO did a final search in the victim’s attic and found the power cable that was running to the hidden bedroom camera.
The victim put video evidence on a thumb drive and gave it to JSO. Both of the suspect’s phones were seized.
The man, who faces two counts of video voyeurism, was booked into the Duval County Jail on Feb. 25 and released two days later on a bond of $20,000 and ordered to have no contact with the victim.
His next court date is set for March 19.
Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said this situation happens more often than you think.
“In old days, you think I want to make sure my jewelry is put away so nobody pockets that and people nowadays can be after more than just your jewelry. There it’s your secrets and your dignity and everything else, they’re getting scary,” Hackney said.
He said you should make sure a contractor is licensed to be in your home and check out reviews and references other people may have made.
“Trust your gut if something that’s out of place, something just doesn’t feel right about somebody coming in your house,” Hackney said.
