North Port man charged with video voyeurism

NORTH PORT — Police arrested a man for allegedly spying on a housemate with a hidden shower camera.

John Edward Friel, 60, of North Port, is charged with three counts of video voyeurism and five counts of tampering with physical evidence.

Officers allege Friel's search history included phrases such as "nanny cams" and "how to delete Amazon order history."

The North Port Police Department began investigating Friel in February when another resident at his Yacolt Avenue home made an allegation against him.

The caller said she had been living at the home for about a year when she noticed a "device" sitting on a shelf above her bathroom sink.

According to the probable cause affidavit, the caller told officers the device was pointed toward the "shower/toilet area."

The caller contacted Friel about the device via Snapchat and he arrived the next morning to see it for himself. When she confronted him in-person, he allegedly denied the device was a camera before dropping it on the floor and "lightly stepping on it."

She alleged Friel deleted her SnapChat message since that confrontation.

Officers reviewed pictures of the device taken by the caller, noting it appeared to have an SD card and appeared to be a small camera. Police obtained a search warrant and contacted Friel. His discussion with the officers is heavily redacted.

One redacted section, however, was followed with a statement the officer previously took from the caller: That Friel had "approached and questioned (the caller) regarding sex" and that he had allegedly "brushed up against her" in the residence's laundry room.

After another redacted sentence, the affidavit alleged there was a camera "disguised" as a "multi-port power extension."

Among the items taken during the residential search warrant was Friel's cellphone. According to the affidavit, forensic analysis concluded the phone had recently undergone a factory reset with four other resets since last November.

The forensic analysis reportedly turned up records of internet searches for topics such as "nanny cams," "how to delete Amazon order history," and "how to reset Android phone without losing data."

A subsequent subpoena of Friel's order history from Amazon allegedly shows an account linked to him purchasing four "hidden surveillance cameras."

Officers showed photos of these cameras to the caller in March and she allegedly identified three of the devices as matching the description of what she had seen.

Another follow-up interview was conducted with Friel. Friel was charged and taken to Sarasota County Jail.

Friel has since been released from jail on $100,000 bond. His arraignment is set for Aug. 23.