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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Post Falls man charged with video voyeurism

Taryn Brodwater Staff writer

A Post Falls man was arrested Christmas Day after his stepson discovered a hidden camera that police say he used to videotape his 14-year-old stepdaughter and others as they showered at the family’s home.

Douglas Kenneth Barnett, a 49-year-old Lakeland school bus driver, has been charged with three felony counts of video voyeurism, a sex crime. He is the third person in Kootenai County to be charged with the crime since the state’s video voyeurism law went into effect last spring.

Barnett, who was released on bail, couldn’t be reached for comment.

In a written statement he provided to police, Barnett said he had “made a huge mistake” and that he first got the cameras to catch underage drinking at his house but said, “I started to think about other things I could use them for.”

According to police reports, Barnett’s 21-year-old stepson was showering when he noticed a wire inside the cover of an exhaust fan above the shower. He told police that when he discovered the wire was connected to a camera, he went to the living room where the family was celebrating Christmas and pulled his mother aside.

After showing his mother the camera, they agreed to call Post Falls police.

The stepson waited in the garage and, when police arrived, told them that Barnett had no idea the camera had been discovered or that police had been called.

Police discovered a second camera mounted in the door frame of the stepdaughter’s bedroom. The frame had been carved out so the camera could be installed.

After his arrest, Barnett admitted in a videotaped interview with Officer Chris Rice that the cameras were his, the police report states. He initially said he installed a camera to catch underage drinking at the home but grew curious and began watching his nude stepdaughter.

Police found several tapes containing nude images of Barnett’s stepdaughter, stepson and stepson’s girlfriend as they dressed and showered.

Barnett told Rice that he viewed live images using a portable DVD player in his bedroom. According to the police report, both cameras were powered by cable, but also equipped with wireless antennas.

During a search of the house, Rice discovered that the cameras were drawing power from an exhaust fan in a laundry room next to the bathroom. In the police report, Rice said he discovered cables running from the fan to the cameras.

At Barnett’s first appearance in court Tuesday, prosecuting attorney Henry Madsen asked for bail to be set at $100,000, according to court minutes. He also asked 1st District Judge Penny Friedlander to order Barnett to have no contact with the victims or minors, considering his job as a school bus driver.

After Barnett requested bail be set lower, Friedlander agreed to set it at $75,000 and ordered him not to contact his alleged victims. She said she couldn’t order that he not have contact with minors, though.

Administrators from the Lakeland School District could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Idaho’s video voyeurism law, which went into effect March 19, 2004, made it a felony for someone to secretly videotape or photograph adults. Such a crime was already a felony when juveniles were involved, but when adults were the victims, prosecutors were generally limited to filing charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

William Fouche, a prominent Post Falls doctor, was the first to be charged under the state’s new law.

The 60-year-old was sentenced in November to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a single count of video voyeurism. Through a plea agreement, four other counts were dismissed, as well as a count of possession of sexually exploitative material.

He was charged with videotaping seven women in his home, including friends from church, his relatives and a then-17-year-old foreign exchange student, as they showered or undressed in his guest bathroom.

Not long after Fouche was charged, a 42-year-old Hayden landlord was arrested after a renter complained that she had discovered a videotape taken of her in the home’s bathroom. Investigators found a camera and recording equipment.

Roger D. Hills was sentenced to 180 days in jail and a year’s probation on a reduced charge of disturbing the peace.