Mitchell Wasek, the 28-year-old son of the co-founder of a Texas convenience store chain, has been indicted by a grand jury in Texas on 21 felony counts of invasive visual recording.
Wasek, a former student at Southern Methodist University (SMU) Dedman School of Law, was arrested in Travis County, Texas, in October 2023 after being accused of recording people in bathrooms and dormitories, “using the bathroom , shower, change clothes and/or have sexual relations”, in multiple properties linked to his family.
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza announced Wednesday that Wasek was accused of recording 13 different people over two years.
The camera that was used had a memory card inside, which was the same one used to capture videos taken on the Wasek family properties.
The properties include a house, a lake house and an apartment in Austin, according to Wasek’s arrest affidavit.
“The Travis County District Attorney’s Office takes the job of presenting all the facts and evidence to a grand jury very seriously,” Garza said in a news release. “In this case, a group of independent members of the Travis County community heard the evidence and the law and decided that Mr. Wasek’s conduct was unlawful.”
Wasek’s attorney, David Gonzalez, told USA Today that his client’s case involves “the legal right to install cameras in one’s home.”
Gonzalez mentioned how one of the “many thorny legal questions” at the center of the case asks: “Can a homeowner install a camera in his home without notifying housekeepers or guests, or does the guest have a greater legal right than owner?”
The investigation began in May 2023 when guests, a woman and her friends, at the Wasek family home in Lake Travis found a hidden camera disguised as a charging port in a bathroom that was plugged into the wall, according to the police. sworn declaration.
The camera’s memory card contained dozens of videos showing people in various states of undress, where everyone was unaware that they were being filmed and without their consent, according to the affidavit.
Authorities recovered 68 video files involving at least 13 people, KVUE reported.
The recordings date back to 2021, according to the affidavit.
Since 2019, Wasek purchased more than a dozen video surveillance cameras and other technology on Amazon and shipped them to his family’s properties in Austin, Dallas and Telluride, Colorado, KXAN reported, citing court records.
In October, Wasek was arrested on 28 charges and released on $280,000 bail and is prohibited from contacting the complainants, according to Travis County court records.
It is unclear how much time he will serve if convicted in both cases.
Additionally, under Texas law, invasive visual recording is a state felony that can result in a maximum of two years in prison per charge.
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