CRIME, POLICE + COURTS
Woods Cross man charged for allegedly secretly recording others in bathroom
Mar 22, 2023, 7:32 PM | Updated: Mar 23, 2023, 10:28 am
Wood Cross Police arrested the owner of USA Gymnastics World after it was discovered that he had allegedly set up a recording device in a a bathroom. (Photo credit: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Photo credit: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
WOODS CROSS, Utah — Police in Woods Cross have arrested the owner of USA Gymnastics World in Woods Cross after they say a hidden recording device was found in a bathroom at the facility.
Police say that for two weeks in October 2022, Adam Richard Jacobs allegedly placed a camera disguised as a cell phone charger in a unisex bathroom. In the device, police say, were more than 500 files with many child victims secretly recorded using the restroom.
Footage also showed Jacobs setting up a camera in a boy’s locker room and a bedroom of his home.
An employee at the business told KSL that Jacobs is no longer an owner or coach.
Authorities are asking that Jacobs be held without bail. In the probable cause statement, police said he is a danger to the community. Furthermore, they say he would likely flee the jurisdiction if released on bail.
In a press conference, Woods Cross Police Department said a prosecutor charged Jacobs on Thursday.
Investigation
In a press release, Woods Cross Police said several agencies, including Homeland Security and Secret Service, searched Jacobs’ home and business on Wednesday.
In the home, WCPD said authorities found electronic storage devices.
Police went on to arrest Jacobs on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a minor, and voyeurism. In a press conference on Thursday, WCPD said Jacobs didn’t have a criminal background prior to his arrest.
“At this time we know the illicit activity was limited to electronic monitoring and we have no evidence to suggest any children were physically abused.”
Authorities believe that Jacobs acted alone and do not suspect any other coaches or gym employees were involved.
WCPD said authorities know the identities of all the victims and were working to notify them. During the Thursday press conference, WCPD said anyone who believes they are a victim can contact WCPD so they can look into it.
In addition, police swept the gym and said there were no more devices in the building. The gym remains open.
Serious allegations
“If an individual is photographing children, especially minors, that could, under the law, (be) the production of child pornography,” said KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas, who also noted that currently the suspect is presumed innocent.
“If it’s prosecuted in the federal court system, which I think it very likely could be, this could result in a prison term of well over a decade.”
According to police records, images of as many as 70 people were captured on a hidden camera in the bathroom at USA Gymnastics World in Woods Cross. Police will now determine if the images were given to other people.
“They could probably do that based on the records of the gym itself,” Skordas said, “… and maybe some of the kids will be simply just be recognizable anyway.”
According to the probable cause statement, Jacobs has been booked into the Davis County Jail on suspicion of 15 counts of voyeurism and 25 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The sexual exploitation charge is a second-degree felony.
Mark Jones and Adam Small contributed to this article.
