Prosecutors charged a 25-year-old man with child exploitation and voyeurism after his roommate found hidden cameras in their Greenwood condo.
Phillip J. Arvin is charged with child exploitation, a Level 5 felony, and four counts of voyeurism, all Level 6 felonies.
Greenwood police found videos of the roommate and a 15-year-old victim using the bathroom, a video of the 15-year-old getting out of the shower and a video of the 15-year-old changing clothes in a bedroom, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Johnson County Superior Court 2.
The victim told police she found what she believed to be some sort of camera, the size of a AA or AAA battery with blue LED lights, under the carpet where it meets the tile floor in the bathroom, according to court documents.
When she asked Arvin if he had noticed it, he threw a pair of jeans on it, looked under the carpet and told her it was an exposed wire and that she should call the landlord to get the carpet fixed, she told police.
Later that day, while Arvin was out, she checked the condo for hidden cameras. The camera under the carpet was gone, but the wire was still there, according to court documents. She found a smoke detector behind Arvin’s computer tower that had a camera lens and memory card in it, court documents said.
She told police Arvin had asked her a few days ago if she wanted a smoke detector in her bathroom, but she told him no because steam from the shower would set it off, according to court documents.
She told police she and the 15-year-old victim had known Arvin for a couple years, and she and Arvin had been co-workers at a local department store, where Arvin worked in the electronics department, court documents said.
Police served a search warrant Feb. 28 at the condo, where they seized several items including Arvin’s desktop computer. On an external hard drive connected to the computer, police found at least five different videos, including several of the victims using the bathroom, one of the a 15-year-old victim getting out of the shower and another of her changing clothes in a bedroom at the condo, according to court documents.
Arvin was arrested Tuesday and taken to the Johnson County jail. He was released on $16,200 bond.
