West Chester University student, Josh Yannuzzi, has been charged with over 100 counts related to installing hidden cameras in women’s bathrooms to illegally record women, the Chester County DA’s office has announced.
Yannuzzi, 24, of Honey Brook, Pa., a musical theater student, admitted to police that had taped an iPhone taped under a bathroom sink pointed at the toilet inside a West Chester University arts center after his phone was discovered by a woman using the bathroom, according to a criminal complaint.
“This defendant was a technological predator,” Chesco DA Tom Hogan said in a statement. “Using his ties in the theater community, he specifically targeted certain young women for hidden recordings in private places, all for his own sexual gratification. The victims, the victims’ friends and family, and the entire theater community have been betrayed.”
Prosecutors say Yannuzzi surreptitiously recorded women in various states of nudity at least 50 times, and had uploaded at least one video online where it had been viewed roughly1,000 times.
His iPhone was discovered in the West Chester University E.O. Bull Arts Center bathroom by the female victim on Oct. 10. Police responding to the scene, located Yannuzzi outside the bathroom, and found surveillance video showing he entered the bathroom before the victim and checked it again after she left.
After obtaining a warrant, they searched Yannuzzi’s phone, finding videos of at least 20 female victims. Yannuzzi surrendered his phone to police and cooperated with the investigation, admitting to placing the camera in various locations and recording women without their consent for his own gratification, as well as identifying the various victims to investigators, according to the criminal complaint.
‘Spy Camera’ in local theaters
The videos were recorded using a secretive app called “The-Spy-Camera.” Police said videos were made at locations including residences in Philadelphia, Reading, West Chester and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; as well as at the Footlighters Theater in Berwyn, Pa., the Genesius Theatre in Reading, Pa., and the Street Lamp Productions Theater in Rising Sun, Maryland. Police also found images on the iPhone videos purportedly showing Yannuzzi in the act of placing the phones in concealed locations before beginning the videos.
Yannuzzi, who is now charged with more than 100 offenses including wire-tap violations, invasion of privacy, distribution of obscene materials and criminal use of a communications facility, is currently banned from West Chester University.
Hogan said Yannuzzi was active in the local theater company and was due to star in an upcoming performance of “My Fair Lady.”
Hogan urged more victims to come forward. “Anybody who had contact with Josh Yannuzzi in theater productions or living arrangements is a potential victim,” he said.
Victims can contact Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.
