Serial burglar now faces voyeurism charges after detectives recover footage captured by hidden cameras

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ST. GEORGE — The suspect arrested last week on charges filed in connection with a string of burglaries and thefts now faces 10 new charges after investigators recovered voyeuristic-related footage from several devices with cameras hidden inside.

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Additional charges were submitted Friday to the Washington County Attorney’s Office against Aaron Dennis Foote, who was arrested by St. George Police detectives on May 24, following a months-long investigation into a string of construction site thefts that began in the spring of 2021.

In addition to the 30 felony charges that were filed in connection with the burglaries, Foote now faces 10 misdemeanor counts of voyeurism by electronic equipment concealed or disguised, according to charging documents filed with the court.

The new charges stem from the evidence collected during a search of the truck the suspect was driving at the time of the arrest for the string of burglaries, which included multiple electronic recording and digital devices that were recovered and later sent for forensic examination.

Investigators discovered that a number of the devices were equipped with cameras, some of which were discreetly embedded into the device, such as pinhole cameras, while others were concealed by various means, including one installed on the face of a wristwatch.

When the digital media stored on the devices was analyzed, it revealed “numerous videos of a voyeuristic nature,” the detective noted in the report.

The footage recovered was captured using cameras that were purportedly placed in various locations, including where individuals were undressing. Other cameras were placed on a shoe or other object that was low to the ground and could be maneuvered so as to provide a view of the underside of people’s clothing captured in a number of public areas.

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Further videos were recovered from the SD card found in a camcorder that also had a zoom feature that captured footage of multiple people in an array of public places. The zoom feature and angle changes were used in an apparent attempt to view specific regions of a person’s body, for example.

The areas of focus were regions where a person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, officers noted, namely buttocks and pelvic regions.

Even though the subjects were recorded in a public space, the videos captured would violate a reasonable expectation of privacy, including those depicting the undergarments and other concealed clothing.

Detectives eventually determined the videos were recorded at multiple locations throughout Washington County including public parks, car washes, retail stores and swimming pools.

Detectives also confirmed that all images and videos included shots of the suspect that were visible in the frames, and each device and all digital media were recovered from the suspect’s vehicle.

The detective also noted it was readily apparent the videos were captured surreptitiously by the suspect to avoid detection, and several of the devices used to store the footage were kept in containers designed to throw off detectives.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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