An apartment property manager in Sydney is awaiting sentencing for photographing the private lives of multiple tenants.
Maxwell (Ernest Maxwell), 49, uses hidden cameras to snag a tenant's sex, go to the toilet, masturbate and take a bath, the Australian news agency reported. He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 11 counts, including unauthorized photographing of other people's private places, deliberate shooting of private images without permission, and the use of equipment to observe or photograph others.
Maxwell is reported to be working as a flight attendant and is expected to appear in court again in April.
A tenant found a hidden camera in a clock on the wall last year in the bathroom of his apartment in Maxwell's office, police documents show. The tenant later found an SD card behind the clock. When he plugged his SD card into his computer, he found video of his roommate naked, bathed, bathroom and masturbation, "and they didn't seem to know they were being photographed."
Police found 10 lower corners of a wall clock on a couple's bedroom wall and hidden cameras in a second apartment linked to Maxwell.
In the clock hanging on the wall opposite the bed of another man's bedroom, the number 6 contained a camera, and a watch and a small SD card in another wall clock in the bathroom.
Police officers seized more than 30 items to record audio and video, including clocks, laptops, mobile phones and a key to the car, police said. These items contain "a lot of material and data," including video files and photos, and nine people "in private acts, such as showers, toilet visits, masturbation and sexual intercourse."
While searching Maxwell's cell phone, police also found a purchase of a "hidden nanny camera" in eBay and a mobile phone program called "Cooky Cam." The program can be used to obtain video clips remotely.
