PHILADELPHIA – A suburban Philadelphia landlord secretly videotaped 34 female tenants over two decades after hiding cameras in their apartments, authorities said Friday.
Thomas Daley, 45, was arraigned on more than 2,000 charges by Magisterial District Judge Francis Lawrence Jr. and waived his preliminary hearing Friday.
Authorities had not previously disclosed the number of tenants involved.
Daley had installed the cameras — typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom — in at least 7 apartments he rented to women in Norristown over the last 19 years, Reynolds said.
Daley's sophisticated set-up fed the camera images to a recording system in the basement, enabling him to view the tapes from his home via the Internet, authorities have said.
He hid the tiny cameras behind mirrors and in cabinets and ceiling fans, and some turned on with the flip of a light switch, they said.
Defense lawyer Timothy Woodward did not immediately return a message Friday from The Associated Press.
The investigation began after a tenant discovered a camera this year and contacted police, leading to Daley's arrest Sept. 19 on charges including wiretapping and invasion of privacy. Detectives have since searched his other apartments and recovered videotapes, records and evidence that led to new charges Friday involving 34 current and former tenants.
The charges being added Friday include 34 counts of invasion of privacy, 14 wiretap counts based on 14 audio devices found, and two counts each of burglary and evidence tampering, based on his alleged attempt to break into two apartments and remove cameras after he learned of the probe, Reynolds said.
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