LaGuardia Airport Worker Turned Bathroom Into 'Peep Show': DA

New York City NY

01 December, 2020

4:23 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A LaGuardia Airport worker's secret recordings of women in a public restroom didn't fly with authorities. Samuel Rodriguez, 39, received a six-month sentence on Monday after he pleaded guilty to unlawful surveillance. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, in a release, said Rodriguez admitted to using his phone to record "pretty girls" using the bathroom. "He turned an airport restroom into his own personal peep show," Katz said in a statement. "This is unconscionable and as a result of his actions the defendant is going to jail." Rodriguez's path to a guilty plea started in December 2018, when a woman entered a unisex restroom after Rodriguez. She noticed a beeping sound and traced it a phone hidden in the paper towel dispenser, authorities said. The woman looked at the phone and managed to play back a clip of video showing Rodriguez setting up the phone inside the paper towel dispenser, authorities said. The footage showed him angling toward the toilet, according to a release. Law enforcement officers caught up with Rodriguez, who quickly admitted to setting the camera up. "I was trying to video pretty girls," he told them, according to a release. Rodriguez will have to register as a sex offender. He also will be under 10 years of post-release supervision.