PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A suburban Philadelphia landlord placed hidden cameras throughout his apartments and secretly videotaped female tenants for years, investigators said Monday.
Thomas Daley, 45, of Phoenixville, is accused of wiretapping, invasion of privacy and criminal use of a communications device, among other charges stemming from the police search that yielded cameras behind mirrors and in cabinets and ceiling fans, police said. Hidden cameras and audio equipment were found in the bedrooms, bathrooms and living rooms of at least three apartments he owned in Norristown, police said. Altogether, 16 apartments have been searched or are in the process of being searched.
"He had such an elaborate system set up that when someone in the apartment would activate a light switch or a ceiling fan, he was able, via the Internet, to retrieve the video images or audio," Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman said.
Daley, who was arrested Friday, told police he had been making the secret recordings for about 20 years. Police seized a cache of videotapes and DVDs. "Some of the tapes were the old fashioned VHS tapes, and the more recent were digital — so it clearly spans several generations of technology," Ferman told The Associated Press.
Daley later gave police a statement allegedly admitting that he installed the cameras, some of which were activated when a tenant turned on a light switch. Some of the cameras recorded on a VHS system that was in the basement while other digital cameras fed a digital video recorder, also stored in the basement. In addition to being able to record what was happening in the apartments, Daley said he could access the DVR system from his computer at home and get a live feed. He also could turn the cameras on and off from his home computer, according to the criminal complaint.
Police were getting numerous calls from former female tenants about the arrest and expect to find more victims. "This is really the tip of the iceberg in a much larger case," Ferman said. Daley was being held on $1 million cash bail. His preliminary hearing was set for Sept 29.
Sources:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hSg5EZfybHatO3TSNRSn2pptAIwgD93C3OH00
http://www.allaroundphilly.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20133160&BRD=1673&PAG=461&dept_id=17915&rfi=6
*
