An electronics installer with access to some of Florida’s most exclusive neighborhoods has been arrested in Vero Beach, Florida, after he allegedly set up a hidden camera in the bathroom of a $20 million mansion to capture footage of two underage girls showering, walking around nude and even going to the bathroom.
Indian River Shores Police turned the tables on the digital peeping Tom with its own sting operation Wednesday inside the mansion and caught the suspect, Lennon Ford Starkweather, a married 37-year-old father of one.
Detectives were still serving a search warrant at the suspect’s home late Thursday and were spotted by DailyMail.com carrying large boxes, an antique chest and files to unmarked patrol cars out front.
One investigator close to the case, who asked to remain anonymous, said detectives were looking for photos of other victims captured after Starkweather installed home theaters, smart-house wiring, surveillance cameras and computer equipment inside multi-million dollar beachfront mansions.
By Thursday morning, dozens of the residents of exclusive enclaves like John’s Island, home of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, were calling the small police department to have detectives check their homes for similar hidden cameras.
Lennon Ford Starkweather, a married 37-year-old father of one, was charged with two felony counts of video voyeurism. He is out on $50,000-bond, but other charges could be coming
Starkweather allegedly set up a spycam in the bathroom of this $20 million-mansion to capture footage of two underage girls showering and using the bathroom
Detectives were still serving a search warrant at the suspect’s home late Thursday and were spotted carrying large boxes, an antique chest and files to unmarked patrol cars out front
One investigator close to the case who asked to remain anonymous said detectives were looking for photos of other victims captured by Starkweather
Detectives are seen carrying items out of Starkweather’s home as potential evidence in the case
Starkweather was charged with two felony counts of video voyeurism. He is out on $50,000-bond today, but other charges could be coming.
This is the spycam the two underage girls found in the bathroom. They searched for the device on the web and quickly understood the ‘charger’ was indeed a DevineEagle spy camera wall charger retailing online for $36.50
‘We believe there could be many victims,’ said Indian River Shores Police Chief Rich Rosell. ‘He had dozens of clients in the area with full access to their homes.
‘In this case, he took advantage of having an office in the home of the victims’ grandfather to place a widely available spy camera in the bathroom used by a 16-year-old girl and her 17-year-old friend.
‘Our investigation is continuing.’
According to Indian River County Sheriff’s Office, the agency charged with booking and jailing the suspect, the incident occurred at the eight-bedroom winter home of the multi-millionaire.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, the millionaire was hosting a Memorial weekend family gathering when his granddaughter and her best friend found the device in the bathroom of the suite they shared.
DailyMail.com is not identifying the victims because of the sexual nature of the alleged crime.
Our law enforcement source said Starkweather had been recently hired as a full-time tech consultant by the homeowner after years working in neighboring luxury homes, and the millionaire assigned him an office on the 2.5-acre property.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, the millionaire was hosting a Memorial weekend family gathering when his granddaughter and her best friend found the device in the bathroom of the suite they shared
The juveniles were housed in a suite with sweeping ocean views when, before dinner on May 22, they retreated to their quarters for a shower.
That’s when they noticed a device that looked like a charger plugged into an outlet in the bathroom.
Each of the girls, they told police, thought the charger belonged to the other.
After dinner, the girls were putting on facial masks when they figured out the device near the mirror didn’t belong to either of them.
They removed it from the outlet and examined it. When they turned it at an angle, the device appeared to have a pin hole with a red camera lens inside, according to the arrest papers. It also had an eagle head logo on the side.
They searched for the device on the web and quickly understood the ‘charger’ was indeed a DevineEagle spy camera wall charger retailing online for $36.50.
The company advertises the product as indispensable to ‘keep an eye on the babysitter and the child, the housekeeper or employees at work to confirm competence, to prevent the theft of jewelry, money, property or information in the house / hotel / workplace.’
In this case, however, police say the spy cam was used for more insidious purposes.
When police arrived at the house to investigate May 26, family members told cops they suspected Starkweather placed the camera, mostly because he was the only one with knowledge of surveillance equipment.
Police took a SIM card out of the device and found ‘numerous nude photos of the two juveniles,’ the police report reads.
The camera, our law enforcement source said, was equipped with a wide-angle lens and captured the girls in the entire suite, including sleeping in bed.
Indian River Shores cops then decided to use their own video surveillance equipment to catch the suspect.
They put the spy cam back into the socket on May 27 and sat in the room adjacent to the suite to monitor their own video feed.
An hour later, Starkweather allegedly walked into the girls’ room and walked straight to the bathroom.
Police say their video caught Starkweather removing the spy cam from the outlet and leaving the room.
He was arrested in his office at the house moments later.
It is unclear if Starkweather has hired a lawyer. He wasn’t at his house and couldn’t be reached Thursday night.
The millionaire wasn’t home either last night and didn’t reply to messages requesting comments left on his house phones.