A man staying as a houseguest at an Aiken County home secretly recorded a 15-year-old girl in the bathroom using a hidden camera, authorities said.
When the camera was discovered in the Wagener home and investigators confiscated the suspect’s phone, they found video and nude images of the teen victim, according to a sheriff’s report. Officers also found several nude images of younger girls on the man’s phone.
Anthony Silva, 54, of Lexington, was charged Tuesday with 29 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
On July 15, the homeowner or resident called the sheriff’s office, saying Silva was allowed to stay at his house for last three months with him and his teenage daughter.
“The complainants discovered a wireless camera concealed as a wall charger in the teenager’s bathroom,” the report says. “The complainant stated the suspect was supposed to be at work tonight and it is suspicious that he didn’t go to work, opting to stay home knowing the teenage daughter was there.”
Officers were shown a black cube with a “C” charger cable attached. The lens of the device was pointed towards the bathtub, the report says.
When officers arrived, Silva was still at the residence, and officers immediately seized his iPhone and placed him in a patrol car. But he was later released, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Warrants say that the suspect’s phone contained multiple images of the teenager in the bathroom, including images zoomed in on her body. Other photos showed various pornographic images of juvenile girls, ages 7-14, warrants say.
Silva remained in the Aiken County Detention Center on Wednesday night.
