Crime & Safety
Hidden Cameras Found In Dance School Bathrooms Were Placed By Ex-Employee: HBPD
Police say they arrested the suspect last week after securing a search warrant and finding evidence linking him to the cameras.
HERMOSA BEACH, CA — A 25-year-old Torrance man has been arrested in connection with several hidden cameras that were found in the bathrooms of a South Bay dance school in May.
Jourdyn Godoy, a former employee of the dance school, was arrested Friday after investigators secured a search warrant and found evidence linking him to the cameras, according to the Hermosa Beach Police Department
The Los Angeles District Attorney's Office has since filed one count each of possession of child porn, annoying or molesting a child and criminal invasion of privacy, against Godoy, according to police. The latter charges are misdemeanors, according to the Los Angeles DA's office, which said that if convicted, Godoy could be sentenced to a maximum of four years in prison.
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“To invade a child’s privacy in a place where they should feel completely safe is a grotesque violation of trust, safety, and basic human decency,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said in a statement Wednesday. “We will do everything in our power to hold this individual fully accountable. No child — or adult — should have to worry about being secretly recorded in such a private space.”
A parent at the Hermosa Beach dance school located in the 1100 block of Aviation Boulevard found the hidden cameras in multiple unisex restrooms on May 3 and reported it to the staff, who then called police, authorities said.
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Detectives, with the help of the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, conducted a forensic examination that found Godoy had placed the cameras in the bathrooms.
Police previously called this a "disturbing act" and vowed to find whoever was responsible. The owner of the School of Dance and Music, Liliana Somma, told KTLA at the time that she was working with police to find who placed the cameras in the bathrooms and had hired a company to perform a sweep of the studio. The students at the dance school range from two years old to 18 years old.
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