Man Sentenced for Secretly Recording Co-Workers in Restroom

LONG BEACH (CNS) - A Downey man who secretly recorded his co-workers in a restroom at the Long Beach Police Department building was sentenced today to six years in county jail.

Sergio Nieto, who had worked as a records clerk, was also ordered to complete one year of sex compulsion counseling, serve five years on probation and stay at least 100 yards away from police headquarters and substations where he might come into contact with the victims, according to the Long Beach City Prosecutor's Office.

If the 29-year-old man violates probation, he could face up to 28 1/2 years in jail and could be ordered to register as a sex offender.

``This case was disturbing on many levels, but it is the complete betrayal of trust that many people cannot fathom,'' Long Beach City Prosecutor Doug Haubert said. ``This is the most serious case of invasion of privacy I have seen in my 20 years as a prosecutor.''

Supervising Deputy City Prosecutor Kay Watson said the crimes have ``really traumatized some of the victims.''

``Many victims felt embarrassed, and some needed counseling. We hope this sends a strong message how wrong this conduct is,'' Watson said in the statement.

Nieto was arrested on June 29, 2018, after a co-worker saw him filming in a restroom, triggering an investigation which determined that Nieto had captured and saved hundreds of videos secretly taken of people using different bathrooms over a two-year period, prosecutors said. Most of the videos were taken of co-workers inside the bathroom on the second floor of the police department's headquarters, according to the City Prosecutor's Office.

Nieto was initially charged with 115 misdemeanor counts involving 69 co-workers. He pleaded no contest Oct. 8 to 69 invasion of privacy charges, and the remainder of the counts were subsequently dismissed.


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