A Tampa man is accused of using his cell phone to record people, including an 11-year-old child, in the bathroom stalls at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport.
Pinellas County Sheriff’s detectives arrested MichelFernandez Fuentes, 46, on two charges of video voyeurism in connection with the incidents.
Fuentes was employed by SSP America, a food and beverage company working inside the airport, according to a sheriff’s office news release.
The sheriff’s crimes against children unit began investigating June 30 after two people reported noticing a cell phone being held under the stall door in an airport bathroom. Both victims, including the child, said they saw their image on the screen of the phone, presumably via the device’s front facing camera, the release states.
The two victims did not know each other and were boarding separate flights, the release said.
Detectives said they discovered Fuentes entered a men’s bathroom in the airport and occupied the stall next to both people. In an interview, Fuentes told detective he used his phone while sitting on the toilet, but denied accessing the phone’s camera or using it to record people in the bathroom, according to the news release.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for Fuentes’ phone and reported finding more than 160 photographs showing “unknown subjects’ legs while using the toilet in adjacent stalls” between December 2021 and February 2022. An arrest report said Fuentes’ identification badge was visible in one of the images.
Detectives also said the camera and photo gallery also were accessed multiple times during the 10-minute period both victims were in the bathroom with the suspect.
Fuentes was being held in the Pinellas County Jail Saturday with bail set at $15,000, records show.