DOCUMENT: Florida, Sex, Crime

Video Voyeur Haunted College's Men's Restrooms

Suspect termed secret filming as "personal challenges"

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College Urinal Voyeur

DECEMBER 12--The Florida man arrested this week for filming a series of voyeuristic videos inside bathrooms at the university where he formerly worked confessed to cops that he used his iPhone to record men urinating and masturbating, claiming that his illegal efforts were “personal challenges” to see if he could “succeed at it without being detected.”

Seth Thompson, 40, shot the videos this year inside bathrooms at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, where he worked as a library “collection specialist.” After filming the explicit clips, Thompson (seen at right) allegedly uploaded them to several porn web sites, as well as a Tumblr page carrying his online handle, “JERKING_BUD,” according to a police report.

Police launched the video voyeurism probe in late-June, when a student reported that he had been surreptitiously filmed urinating inside a school bathroom. The victim told cops that he learned of the existence of the video from a co-worker (who had apparently seen it on Pornhub.com). The 30-second clip is entitled “College guy taking a leak and checking out my dick.” A still from that video can be seen below.

Thompson’s Pornhub page features 17 videos showing men using urinals or inside bathroom stalls (which were recorded through a one-inch peephole in the partition). The videos, which were uploaded earlier this year, have been viewed in excess of 179,000 times, according to the X-rated web site.

Through a review of FAU surveillance video and the issuance of several subpoenas, investigators identified Thompson as a suspect in the bathroom filming. In mid-August, cops raided Thompson’s Lake Worth home and seized a laptop containing hundreds of “voyeurisitic videos” showing “male urination and masturbation; only penis and hands visible,” police reported.

When questioned following the search of his residence, Thompson said that he began recording the restroom videos “after seeing similar videos online, which gave him the impression that there are people who…enjoy viewing videos showing males masturbating and urinating.”

Police noted that Thompson “downplayed his actions,” which he described as “mischief” and a “stupid mistake.” He also claimed that the taping was “considered by him as personal challenges, to see if he could succeed at it without being detected.”

For successfully completing those challenges, Thompson was charged with 13 counts of video voyeurism and four counts of video voyeurism dissemination. After being booked on the 17 felony counts, he was released from custody after posting $51,000 bond. (14 pages)