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Man charged after cameras found inside women`s locker room
Man charged after cameras found inside women`s locker room
PLEASANT PRAIRIE (WITI) -- FOX6 News has learned one of two suspects accused of placing cameras inside the women's locker room at the RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie has been charged in the case.
Karl Landt
36-year-old Karl Landt of Waukegan, Illinois faces eleven "conspiracy to commit capture an image of nudity without consent" in the case. All eleven charges are felonies.
A criminal complaint against Landt says police were dispatched to the RecPlex on Terwall Terrace in the Village of Pleasant Prairie on April 7th for a report of a camera found in the women's locker room.
According to the complaint, a woman discovered her child's clothes were missing from a locker -- and found the locker contained the camera.
The complaint says an officer observed two cameras set up in neighboring lockers. The cameras were set up to span down to the changing area of the locker room. One was set up at upper body level, and one was set up at lower body level.
According to the criminal complaint, police were approached by a woman who was carrying a small infant. That woman told police the lockers in which the cameras were found belonged to her -- and at first indicated the cameras were fakes.
That woman was found to have 10 additional digital cameras in her possession, according to the complaint.
The complaint says the woman told police at first that she was worried about thefts, so she had used two lockers and set up the cameras to record for one hour.
The woman indicated she had joined the RecPlex in January of 2014, and told police she had recorded five other times, according to the complaint.
Eventually, the complaint indicates the woman told police she was making the recordings for a co-worker, whom she identified as Karl Landt.
The complaint says the woman told police she had had a relationship with Landt over the last few years, and said he gave her several video cameras and requested she record video inside the women's locker room at the RecPlex.
The woman then admitted to police she had made recordings on at least 10 prior occasions, according to the complaint.
The woman told police it started in January 2014 -- saying she "lost a bet" with Landt and had agreed to set up the cameras in the locker room. According to the complaint, the woman said Landt purchased the cameras and gave them to her to set up.
The woman told police she would typically set up the cameras when she arrived at the RecPlex, and record while she worked out, according to the complaint.
The woman told police she would then return the cameras to Landt -- saying she had never viewed the videos herself. The woman indicated she assumed the videos contained nude females -- and said Landt became "very upset" with her when she did not provide him with video consistently -- according to the complaint.
The woman told police Landt is a co-worker -- and she delivered the videos to him at work, according to the complaint.
Eventually, the woman told police she worked out about five or six times a week, and estimated she recorded video about 40 or 50 times inside the women's locker room, according to the complaint.
The complaint says the woman told police Landt would make comments indicating that he looked forward to watching the videos at home after work.
The woman told police she had received a recent email from Landt complaining that she had set up the cameras incorrectly. Police were able to view that email -- and it contained two images where females could be identified inside the RecPlex locker room handling items inside a locker, according to the criminal complaint. The email was dated March 3rd, 2014.
Another email was discovered, dated April 2nd. In that email, Landt complains again about the quality of the recording. A picture is attached to the email -- according to the complaint. The email says "Figure this out, or we are going to have major issues," according to the complaint.
On April 8th, Landt was detained in the parking lot of his workplace -- and according to the criminal complaint, he refused to provide a current address and his vehicle was found to be registered in Iowa. A search warrant was done on Landt -- identifying his residence as Waukegan, Illinois.
The criminal complaint indicates a camera found in the top drawer of Landt's desk at work, as well as a bag containing 10 additional cameras were turned over to police.
The criminal complaint says video recovered from the woman in this case was reviewed by police -- and contained both nude adult women and nude women that appeared to be juveniles.
Landt faces a maximum of three years and six months in prison and a maximum of $10,000 in fines on each charge against him, if he is convicted.
Landt has a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 17th.
Pleasant Prairie police say they continue to investigate in order to learn how much video was collected; to learn which areas of the locker room were involved; to learn how the video was used or if it was distributed; and to identify potential victims from the evidence collected.
Police say this will be a long-term investigation.
Police have said children involved in the preschool and before or after school programs at RecPlex do not use the women’s locker room, but instead use the family locker room with their class and their teachers.
However, female RecPlex members with children and other youth and teenager members do use the women's locker room.
According to information gathered, this act was isolated to the women’s locker room between the months of January and early April.
Investigators are asking those who may have been in the locker room or have had a family member in the locker room to contact the Pleasant Prairie Police Department at 262.948.8910.
The woman in this case -- accused of setting up the cameras, has not been charged in the case at this time.