An Eagan man has been charged with rigging his cell-phone camera so he could watch a 15-year-old girl take a shower.
Robert Fredrick Zieper, 50, is charged with interfering with the privacy of a minor, a felony with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, Eagan police were called to an Eagan home on June 25 by the 15-year-old victim.
The girl told police that she was taking a shower just before 11 a.m. on June 24 and had sat down to shave her legs when she noticed a small light coming from the plastic tissue box cover, which had been moved from its usual location.
The girl examined the box and found that a small hole had been drilled through it. She picked it up and found Zieper’s cell phone inside, with the camera lens pointing out of the hole.
She told police that the phone was running an Android application that allowed live video streaming to a personal computer.
She closed down the application, replaced the phone in its hiding place and went to a friend’s house, then told her mother about the incident the next day.
Police examined the tissue box cover and found that someone had put caulk in the hole and tried to cover it up with nail polish.
When they confronted Zieper, he admitted putting the phone in the bathroom, according to the complaint.
Zieper is free on his promise to make all future court appearances and to have no contact with the victim. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled July 24 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.
