The University of Delaware Police Department has arrested and charged a UD doctoral
student with 21 counts of criminal violation of privacy for allegedly hiding video cameras in various restrooms – most of them women’s restrooms – over a period of more than two years.
The cameras have been seized by police, along with other hardware and gear belonging to the suspect. Initial forensics indicate that no video files were uploaded to the Internet or shared with any other individuals.
The investigation discovered a hidden camera was discovered in a women’s restroom at the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) on June 27. After a UD Police investigation, Javier Mendiola-Soto, 38, a doctoral student from Mexico who worked at DBI, was arrested on July 1 and charged with one count of violation of privacy, a felony under Delaware law.
On July 24, he was charged with an additional 20 charges of violation of privacy. The suspect remains in custody at the Howard Young Correctional Institution in Wilmington. His visa has been revoked and he is ineligible for release on bail.
A police search of Mendiola-Soto’s residence have produced approximately 1,500 video files of computerized video images. These video images are being analyzed by the forensics department of the Middletown Police Department, which assists in conducting forensic analysis for other police departments in the state of Delaware. The analysis concluded that the suspect hid video cameras in other restrooms both on and off campus over a more than two-year period from 2012 until his arrest this month.
Click here for the release from the University of Delaware.
Man charged with 21 counts of criminal violation of privacy.
