Two men sentenced to prison for using hidden cameras to record minors

Two separate legal cases involving the use of hidden cameras to record minors have resulted in significant prison sentences in the United States.

In Madison County, Texas, 46-year-old Justin Elliott Lee was sentenced to 50 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Lee pleaded guilty to multiple counts involving illegal images of a minor. The investigation began in August 2024 after a 15-year-old discovered a hidden camera in a family bathroom. Authorities later found recordings of the teenager and cameras positioned toward a shower, as well as another camera in a living room.

In Los Angeles, 31-year-old Joseph Toews, a family therapist from Manhattan Beach, was sentenced to 200 months (approximately 17 years) in federal prison. Toews pleaded guilty to the production of child pornography after installing a recording device in a women’s restroom at his workplace, where he provided counseling to young girls. Prosecutors stated that Toews had also been purchasing child sexual abuse material via the darknet.