The director of an elite youth volleyball club secretly recorded patrons at a Chicago-area sports facility, and now faces charges related to those recordings according to authorities.
As The Daily Herald reports, Michael Liedtke, owner of Xcel Athletics, faces two felony counts of possession of child pornography and two felony counts of unauthorized videotaping stemming from reports of a hidden camera in a bathroom were reported to police.
Police responded to a report and found that a video camera was hidden in a ceiling tile in a public bathroom at the DuPage Training Academy in Carol Stream, Ill. The camera was reportedly directly wired to a computer in Liedtke’s office, which was found to have numerous images of patrons, including minors, using the bathroom. Liedtke is also accused of possessing child pornography on his cell phone.
Liedtke had no direct affiliation to the facility, but had rented space there for four years, according to DuPage Training Academy owner Jeff Kramer.
Kramer sent a letter to patrons Thursday regarding the charges against Liedtke. He assured them that the drop ceiling in the bathroom would be replaced with sheetrock.
Despite having the camera in place for what police said was a very short time period, Deputy Police Chief John Jungers told the Herald that investigators have much forensic work to do on Liedtke’s computer to determine the scope of the case.
Liedtke turned himself into police on Wednesday, and is due in court on Feb. 28.
