Elderly man accused of planting camera in tanning room of VASA gym
Jan 3, 2025, 10:23 AM | Updated: Jan 16, 2025, 3:49 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — After a camera was discovered in a tanning room at a VASA gym in Kaysville, investigators worked to figure out how. On Thursday, an arrest was made in the case and the identity of the suspect was finally revealed.
The man was identified by Kaysville police as Kevin Petersen, 68. He was arrested and booked into Davis County Jail on 33 felony counts of voyeurism, police said.
The camera was located at the VASA gym on Dec. 11, so Petersen’s arrest came weeks later.
“The best word I can describe it as to this day is shock,” Shalee Hass said. “It’s disturbing. It makes you feel like what is safe?”
Hass found the Blink Mini Camera on top of the tanning booth as she was about to enter it.
“I thought there’s no way that’s a camera,” she said. “It was covered in masking tape except for the lens.”
Camera found in tanning room of VASA gym, police investigating
A probable cause statement said officers began their investigation by examining the camera, which revealed it had no storage device. That meant the camera must have been connecting to VASA’s wifi and sending the owner videos through the unsecured network, the statement said.
“It seems that he used an app that connected the camera to the WiFi and that’s how we were able to verify that the camera was used at VASA because he was using the WiFi,” said Noelia Sarmiento with the Kaysville Police Department.
VASA’s IT department was able to see when the camera connected to its network and found it had been active between Dec. 9 at 12:10 p.m. and Dec. 11 at 6:31 a.m. Officers also said the camera was covered in white masking tape and connected to power by a white extension cord.
The camera found by Melanie Nielsen’s family member. (Courtesy Melanie Nielsen)
With that information, the statement said that police knew where to look in VASA’s security footage. They combed through hours of video from Dec. 9, eventually spotting Petersen engaged in some odd activities at the gym.
“In the surveillance footage, the subject removed a white cord from his bag, plugged it into the wall in VASA’s lobby. The subject then plugged the cord into a camera he had in his bag,” the statement said.
Police said the video also showed Petersen “remove masking tape from his bag and rip off several pieces and put them inside his bag where the camera was.”
“(The officer) has no doubt that the camera recovered belongs to and was placed by the subject,” the statement said.
Based on VASA’s customer logs, police believe 33 people used the tanning room while the camera was active, one being under the age of 18.
Following Thursday’s arrest, Petersen initially told officers he was not involved, according to the statement. However, he later told officers he had placed the camera, but “he did so as a joke,” saying the camera didn’t actually work.
“The subject denied that there are any videos of anyone on his device, on a cloud or anywhere for that matter,” the statement said.
However, Hass said this wasn’t simply a joke or a prank.
“This is something that I will deal with for the rest of my life,” she said.
Officers said there are likely more search warrants to come, and the charges could become much more serious as new information comes to light.
“Kaysville police would like to express their gratitude for the public’s patience and cooperation during this process,” the department said. “Please be advised that this investigation is ongoing.”
This is a developing news story. It may be updated.
