Secret Bathroom Camera Spied On Montco Dance Students: Police

NORRISTOWN, PA — A local man who reportedly ran an unlicensed dance studio in the basement of a Montgomery County home is facing invasion of privacy and other criminal charges after police say he set up a secret camera in the studio's bathroom to spy on students as they undressed.

Norristown Police announced the arrest of Francis Gerard Laurenzi, 37, after receiving tips from a woman who said she discovered what appeared to be a cellphone charging block in the wall of the dance studio bathroom but that actually turned out to be a recording device.

Police said that the victim had previously seen a video on social media warning women to look out for such devices, which could be hidden cameras disguised as another type of electronic device.

"The victim confirmed that the charging block was, in fact, a pinhole camera, removed the data card which had just captured her getting changed, and turned it over to the Norristown Police Department," police wrote in a news release.

Norristown investigators say they served both a search warrant and arrest warrant at the location of the unlicensed dance studio, a home on the 1700 block of Kendrick Lane, and took Laurenzi into custody.

Officers seized multiple electronic devices and media storage devices from the residence, and many of those files are still in the process of being restored, and could possibly produce additional victims, police said.

Laurenzi has been charged with a felony count of intercept communications along with misdemeanor counts of invasion of privacy and possessing an instrument of crime, according to court records.

He was arraigned and sent to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail, records show.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 31 before Magisterial District Judge Margaret A. Hunsicker.

Laurenzi's defense attorney, Martin P. Mullaney, of Skippack Township, Montgomery County, said that his client was released from custody after posting bail.

In comments provided to Patch, Mullaney said it was, "tough to comment without having seen any evidence, but for the allegations contained in the basic criminal complaint."

"We look forward to the opportunity to review the Commonwealth's evidence and more importantly, to presenting our defense," Mullaney said.