A curious office manager took the lid off an invasion of privacy that could have spread to bathrooms throughout the Philadelphia area.
A man allegedly placed hidden cameras inside various women’s bathrooms.
Matthew Hawkins of Lansdale, Pa. was arrested Tuesday after police allegedly found photos of several partially-clothed women on a hidden camera he reportedly had placed in a Delaware women’s restroom where he worked.
Back in February an office manager at a business on the 1300 block of Society Drive in Claymont, Del. found the camera secretly placed inside a box on a wall facing a toilet, according to New Castle County Police.
Two days before the employee tipped off the cops, he gave the camera to Hawkins, who worked with the company as a computer technician. Hawkins allegedly examined the device and claimed to have found no images, said police.
Once detectives got a hold of the camera, they found something else -- hundreds of deleted images, said police.
Among the deleted images recovered were images of Hawkins installing the camera in the ceiling above another toilet in a different restroom, cops said.
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Further investigation showed that Hawkins, 33, had also allegedly placed hidden cams in multiple other bathrooms including Philadelphia-area hospitals.
The hospitals included weren’t released. Nor were the total numbers of victims.
Hawkins was charged with six counts of invasion of privacy and sent to prison pending $5,000 bail. He could face more charged after police get a better look at Hawkins’ seized computer equipment.
The man's father David Hawkins told NBC Philadelphia he wasn't sure what happened.
"I don't know what exactly happened, I don't know why he did what he did. I mean, I really don't wanna know all the details myself," Hawkins said.
