Man Faces 23 Years In Prison For Secretly Recording Bristol Twp. Girls

BRISTOL TOWNSHIP, PA — A Bristol Township man faces up to nearly two years in prison for hiding spy cameras in his bathroom to record his former girlfriend and her teenage daughters, authorities said.

John V. Dutton, 55, was sentenced Thursday to between six months and 23 months in the Bucks County Correctional Facility after pleading guilty to six counts of invasion of privacy, two counts of interception of oral communications, and one count of possession of a controlled substance, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Charissa J. Liller also sentenced Dutton to 11 years of consecutive probation after he serves prison time.

The investigation into Dutton began in August 2023 when the victims’ mother discovered what she believed to be a spy camera disguised as a USB cell phone charging port in the bathroom of their home she shared with her two daughters and son, authorities said.

The mother became suspicious after Dutton insisted on either having no shower curtain or a clear one in the common bathroom. She located the USB charging device, which appeared to have a small camera positioned to view the shower, authorities said. After unplugging the device, she left it in the bathroom.

Moments later, Dutton entered the bathroom and remained inside for an extended period, authorities said. When he left, the device was missing.

Authorities said that another camera was found in the pool cabana area of the backyard.

In November 2023, Bristol Township Police executed a search warrant on the home and seized Dutton’s cell phone. The phone contained videos of the girls undressing and showering in the bathroom, with a date range spanning from February 2021 to March 2023.

During the search, police also located methamphetamine in the home.

A search warrant on an iCloud account associated with Dutton’s other devices uncovered 261 audio and video recordings of the two girls in partial or full nudity in the bathroom, recorded between 2021 and 2023.

One victim read a statement at the sentencing.

“I have lost so many hours of sleep because I can’t turn thoughts and feelings off about these events. I drive myself insane about the dates and acts of the crime because it doesn’t make sense that a man who was in my life from 2011-2023 who was supposed to be a father figure, who loved, cared, and protected me would suddenly after all these years do that to my sister and I," she said. "I am no longer the same and never will be.”