Guilty plea in hidden camera case

Thursday, January 12, 2012

MILFORD – The 27-year-old Peterborough man charged in October with violation of privacy for installing a hidden video camera in a tanning room at a local gym, has agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a suspended sentence.

The agreement, reached last week in district court, states that Nathan M. Morello, of 695 Mountain Road in Peterborough, accepts the 30-day suspended sentence and conditions that he undergo a sex-offender evaluation and stay away from Golds Gym at 191 Elm St., where the incident occurred.

A police prosecutor cited Morello’s lack of criminal record and the fact he was remorseful and cooperated with authorities as reasons the prosecution chose not to seek harsher penalties.

Morello also agreed to write a letter of apology to Golds Gym.

Judge Martha Crocker agreed to the terms and scheduled a review for June 6 at 1 p.m. in district court.

Police initiated an investigation in September, when a Golds Gym employee discovered the recording device, a so-called “nanny-cam” designed to look exactly like a typical clothes or towel hook, while cleaning the tanning room.

Investigators who reviewed the device’s memory card reported seeing the face of a male in his 20s very close to the camera, which led them to conclude the man was checking and adjusting the device.

That and other information police found on the memory card led them to Morello after they matched the images with the photo on his gym membership card.

Morello admitted to installing the device when police confronted him at his home.