A cellphone found in the staff bathroom of a west Omaha retirement home led to the discovery of multiple videos and charges against an Omaha man accused of surreptitiously recording people, including a 10-year-old girl, while they used the bathroom.
Prosecutors have charged Jason Hunter, 43, with at least two counts of unlawful intrusion for recording an individual without consent, a felony. He has pleaded not guilty to a least one of those counts.
Police were first notified after a Lakeside Retirement Community staff member on Dec. 13 discovered a cellphone that appeared to be recording people in an employee restroom, according to court documents. The staff member noticed a light from the floor between a wall and a bench.
When he investigated the source of the light, the staff member found a phone propped up and recording. The staff member stopped the recording and saw the phone contained a video of him using the toilet, court documents state. The video also briefly showed a person setting up the phone at the start of the recording, though the video did not show the person's face.
Lakeside staff contacted executives at Immanuel, the parent corporation of the retirement home, and Immanuel immediately contacted the Omaha Police Department, said Kelly Medwick, marketing and sales vice president at Immanuel. Medwick said Immanuel is cooperating with authorities on the investigation.
Residents were not affected by the incident, she said.
“Immanuel’s priority is to ensure the safety of its staff, residents and families, as well as the privacy of those impacted,” she said.
Police viewed security camera footage, shot from the hallway outside the bathroom, that appeared to show Hunter was in the single-occupant restroom on Dec. 13 when the phone started recording, according to court documents. Police also said Hunter was wearing the same clothes as the person in the cellphone video. The clothes resembled a Lakeside employee uniform.
According to affidavits, Hunter worked as a cook at the center. Medwick said Hunter no longer is an Immanuel employee.
After obtaining a search warrant for the cellphone, police found another recording, this one of an unidentified woman who was recorded in August, according to court documents.
In an interview on Jan. 5, Hunter "admitted to placing the camera in the restroom to capture females in a state of undress," according to police. He provided the names of four additional victims and said he had been recording in the bathroom since at least September, according to police.
Police reports show at least 11 people were recorded at Lakeside.
During the investigation, police said they found videos of two different people — a woman and her 10-year-old daughter — using a bathroom at Hunter's residence. Videos of the 10-year-old appear to have been recorded on Oct. 23 and Nov. 5.
Police said Hunter admitted in a later interview to placing a camera in the bathroom at his residence.
When reached Thursday, a Douglas County public defender representing Hunter declined to comment, saying they were not at liberty to discuss the case.
Hunter was taken to the Douglas County Jail on Jan. 14. He was listed as an inmate as of Friday morning.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for March 2 in Douglas County District Court.
omaha.com
Prosecutors have charged Jason Hunter, 43, with at least two counts of unlawful intrusion for recording an individual without consent, a felony. He has pleaded not guilty to a least one of those counts.
Police were first notified after a Lakeside Retirement Community staff member on Dec. 13 discovered a cellphone that appeared to be recording people in an employee restroom, according to court documents. The staff member noticed a light from the floor between a wall and a bench.
When he investigated the source of the light, the staff member found a phone propped up and recording. The staff member stopped the recording and saw the phone contained a video of him using the toilet, court documents state. The video also briefly showed a person setting up the phone at the start of the recording, though the video did not show the person's face.
Lakeside staff contacted executives at Immanuel, the parent corporation of the retirement home, and Immanuel immediately contacted the Omaha Police Department, said Kelly Medwick, marketing and sales vice president at Immanuel. Medwick said Immanuel is cooperating with authorities on the investigation.
Residents were not affected by the incident, she said.
“Immanuel’s priority is to ensure the safety of its staff, residents and families, as well as the privacy of those impacted,” she said.
Police viewed security camera footage, shot from the hallway outside the bathroom, that appeared to show Hunter was in the single-occupant restroom on Dec. 13 when the phone started recording, according to court documents. Police also said Hunter was wearing the same clothes as the person in the cellphone video. The clothes resembled a Lakeside employee uniform.
According to affidavits, Hunter worked as a cook at the center. Medwick said Hunter no longer is an Immanuel employee.
After obtaining a search warrant for the cellphone, police found another recording, this one of an unidentified woman who was recorded in August, according to court documents.
In an interview on Jan. 5, Hunter "admitted to placing the camera in the restroom to capture females in a state of undress," according to police. He provided the names of four additional victims and said he had been recording in the bathroom since at least September, according to police.
Police reports show at least 11 people were recorded at Lakeside.
During the investigation, police said they found videos of two different people — a woman and her 10-year-old daughter — using a bathroom at Hunter's residence. Videos of the 10-year-old appear to have been recorded on Oct. 23 and Nov. 5.
Police said Hunter admitted in a later interview to placing a camera in the bathroom at his residence.
When reached Thursday, a Douglas County public defender representing Hunter declined to comment, saying they were not at liberty to discuss the case.
Hunter was taken to the Douglas County Jail on Jan. 14. He was listed as an inmate as of Friday morning.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for March 2 in Douglas County District Court.
Omaha man accused of recording people in bathroom charged with invading privacy
A cellphone found in the staff bathroom of a west Omaha retirement home led to the discovery of multiple videos and charges against an Omaha man accused of recording people
