Alleged pen cam peeping Tom out on $25,000 bond

DUNCAN — A Stephens County man is free on $25,000 bond after being charged with setting up a hidden camera in a bathroom and recording women, men, girls and at least one boy.

Gilberto Saldana Diaz, 25, of Comanche, made his initial appearance Friday in Stephens County District Court where he was charged with three counts of recording obscenity and seven counts of peeping Tom with electronic equipment, records indicate. The obscenity counts each are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the peeping Tom charges are each punishable by up to five years in prison.

Stephens County Sheriff’s deputies were contacted Sept. 5 by a woman who said she’d been at a birthday party in Meridian when she found a recording device in a guest bedroom. She said she took it and left.

As the woman was leaving, she said, Diaz asked her if she’d seen his “lucky pen” in the bathroom and she said she’d seen nothing, the probable cause affidavit states. When she got home, the woman said she hooked up the SD card to her video and noticed it held several videos including images of Diaz setting up the device, Deputy Daniel Picazo stated. When she saw the videos of a child using the bathroom, she said, she closed the video and reported it to investigators.

Following a search warrant execution for the pen’s contents, investigators saw multiple recorded videos of adult men and women and boys and girls using the facilities, the affidavit states.

A spy pen is a functioning ink pen that also has a video camera above the pocket clip. The operator of the spy pen can record video with the pen clicker button. The video can be accessed via a computer.

According to norton.com, 

if your phone has an infrared light camera you can use it to find hidden cameras. Open the camera and scan the room looking for small bursts of steady or flashing light — these may be hidden cameras. You can also use smartphone apps that combine several technologies, such as Bluetooth scanning and infrared detection.

After bonding out Monday, Diaz’s conditions of release include no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 and he cannot reside in a home with minor child. Records indicate he returns to court at 9 a.m. Nov. 20 for his preliminary hearing conference.