PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 3, 2008

Police: Landlord Spied On Female Tenants

Pa. Man Accused Of Installing Hidden Cameras In Bedrooms, Bathrooms Of Rental Apartments

    • Tenants didn't expect there to be surveillance INSIDE their apartments — a Pennsylvania landlord has been charged with installing hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms to spy on female tenants.

      Tenants didn't expect there to be surveillance INSIDE their apartments — a Pennsylvania landlord has been charged with installing hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms to spy on female tenants.  (KYW)

    • Thomas Daley, 45, of Phoenixville, Pa., a suburban Philadelphia landlord, was charged with secretly videotaping female tenants with cameras hidden in their apartments.

      Thomas Daley, 45, of Phoenixville, Pa., a suburban Philadelphia landlord, was charged with secretly videotaping female tenants with cameras hidden in their apartments.  (AP Photo/Montgomery County D.A.)

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(CBS/AP)  A suburban Philadelphia landlord secretly videotaped 34 female tenants over two decades after hiding cameras in their apartments, authorities said Friday.

Thomas Daley, 45, will face additional charges stemming from the new victims identified and his alleged efforts to remove some cameras during the investigation, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Coley Reynolds said Friday.

Authorities had not previously disclosed the number of tenants involved.

Daley had installed the cameras - typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom - in at least 7 apartments he rented to women in Norristown over the last 19 years, Reynolds said.

He hid the tiny cameras behind mirrors and in cabinets and ceiling fans, and some turned on with the flip of a light switch, they said.

CBS Station KYW reports that police were first alerted when a female tenant discovered a camera hidden in her apartment; wires led down to a basement recording system.

Daley's sophisticated set-up enabled him to view the tapes from his home via the Internet, authorities have said.

Daley was arrested Sept. 19 on charges including wiretapping and invasion of privacy.

Detectives have since searched his other apartments and recovered videotapes, records and evidence that led to new charges Friday involving 34 current and former tenants.

Defense lawyer Timothy Woodward did not immediately return a message Friday from The Associated Press.

The charges being added Friday include 34 counts of invasion of privacy, 14 wiretap counts based on 14 audio devices found, and two counts each of burglary and evidence tampering, based on his alleged attempt to break into two apartments and remove cameras after he learned of the probe, Reynolds said.

Daley has been in prison on $1 million cash bail since his arrest, but was being arraigned in court Friday on the new charges. He is expected to waive his right to a preliminary hearing, Reynolds said.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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by airboatboy1 October 5, 2008 8:42 AM EDT
When he was a child, all he ever did was want to play "peek-a-boo!".
Reply to this comment
by obamaslady October 4, 2008 7:42 PM EDT
He deserves to die in prison. And for the blogger who asked if a woman did the same thing would she be arrested?

D*mn right and she would deserve the same treatment; die in jail!

No one [except Bush] has the right to take our freedoms from us. Bush was allowed to get away with taking our freedoms because he called it the Patriot Act!
Reply to this comment
by colonieny October 4, 2008 2:29 PM EDT
I wonder , although what he did was not right, I wonder if a lonely woman had done the same thing , would she be put in jail and blamed ?
Reply to this comment
by element51 October 4, 2008 12:59 AM EDT
This sick fvck should be thrown in prison for the rest of his miserable life. There is just no excuse for this kind of thing. But he obviously has money since he owns rentals and he''ll get some shister lawyer to convince the court that he is mentally ill and probably won''t do any hard time. What a total piece of *****. What he did is just short of rape and he did it for 19 years.
Reply to this comment
by simplemind2 October 3, 2008 11:39 PM EDT
This perverted landlord deserves to serve some serious jail time.
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by babooph October 3, 2008 9:38 PM EDT
He needs to be put where HE can be watched.
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by inventagod2 October 3, 2008 7:36 PM EDT

Homeland Security just offered him a job...
Reply to this comment
by questionnews October 3, 2008 7:21 PM EDT
I always wondered where those Girls Gone Wild" videos came from. Now I know!
Reply to this comment
by mark46n October 3, 2008 7:10 PM EDT
Holy Moly a 1 mill. dollar bail for a peeping tom, must have been a woman judge. I''ve seen people in jail on murder charges with much smaller bonds.
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