King of Prussia Mall hidden cameras: devices found in several locker rooms

KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (WPVI) – Many shoppers at the King of Prussia Mall have told Action News they are on high alert after the discovery of hidden cameras in several locker rooms.

Upper Merion Township Police said on July 3 they were sent to the Hollister store in the mall where a 14-year-old girl found a pen fitted with a tiny camera.

Police said they found the pen in the store lodge after trying on clothes.

The device was placed at waist level, between the curtain and the divider.

“It’s disgusting,” said customer Julie Rallis, of Wilmington, Delaware.

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“Considering I have a daughter, yes I don’t want that to happen,” said client David Graycar or Royersford.

Police charged Joseph Stevenson, 26, of Smyrna, Delaware, with placing the camera in the locker room.

Officers said they were able to locate Stevenson after asking a store employee where his pen had been.

Stevenson admitted to placing another photo pen in an Urban Outfitters locker room at the mall, police said.

An employee identified an identical pen while checking the store’s changing rooms.

Police said two young girls were filmed inside the locker room between 2:20 p.m. and 2:55 p.m. Police were still trying to contact the two victims. All of Hollister’s victims have been contacted.

“You know these two stores are generally aimed at younger girls, teenage girls, so it’s very scary,” said Alyson Sciacca, who said she has a teenage daughter.

“Especially having a girl trying on clothes here at the mall, that’s something we come to do all the time, I’m very upset about that,” said Stacey Reed of King of Prussia.

In total, Stevenson is accused of registering nine victims ranging from a 13-year-old girl to a 29-year-old woman.

The device records video and audio, but because it has a USB drive, the police do not believe Stevenson accessed the footage.

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“It’s very disturbing. I think anyone who walks into a locker room and pulls a curtain behind them expects privacy, and that privacy has been invaded,” said Tom Nolan, the police chief of the city. ‘Upper Merion.

Moms like Stacey Reed shopping on Friday said they would have a conversation with their kids about vigilance inside a mall locker room.

Reed went so far as to say that she and her preteen daughter wouldn’t try on clothes in the locker room just yet.

“It’s a shock, oh my God, wow. It just doesn’t make me comfortable trying on clothes anymore,” Reed said.

“It’s just scary to think about it, because it could have been myself and my friends. I absolutely don’t want that to happen. It’s pretty scary to think about,” said Kyla Riley of King of Prussia. .

Stevenson has been charged with invasion of privacy, interception, disclosure or use of wired communications and disorderly conduct. Stevenson was brought to justice and released on $ 10,000 bail.

Other conditions require Stevenson to have no contact with the victims or their families and to refrain from visiting shopping malls.

Upper Merion Police have said you should contact police, security or store management if you notice anything suspicious while at the mall.