Wantagh resident Jake Gabler-Colotti, 22, was arraigned this week and charged with 20 counts of unlawful surveillance, a felony, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced. He faces a term of between one and a third to four years in prison on each count, if convicted.
Singas said that on March 12, Gabler-Colotti was a customer at the Beach Bum Tanning Salon on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown when a woman caught him using a camera to videotape her while she was undressing in the tanning room next to his.
Police responded to the scene, recording equipment was seized, and an investigation was launched. The indictment alleges that Gabler-Colotti created a total of 10 videos involving nine women at the Levittown salon and the Beach Bum Tanning Salon in Seaford over the course of two years.
According to the indictment, Gabler-Colotti allegedly hung the cameras over the short wall in between the tanning rooms to record videos, which were approximately two to eight minutes in length. It is not believed that any of the videos were shared or streamed.
Singas said the investigation is ongoing.
“This defendant is charged with illegally filming nine women in various stages of undress while they were inside tanning booths,” Singas said in a statement. “This kind of egregious invasion of privacy can cause victims great distress and we will hold Mr. Gabler-Colotti accountable.”
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