Houseguest Pleads Guilty To Eavesdropping-Related Charges

A Galien man is facing up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to eavesdropping charges. 35-year-old Joseph Shoemaker admitted to hiding a digital audio recorder in the bedroom of a couple with whom he had been living as a guest for around the last five years and planting a video recording device in the shower. He will be sentenced on October 8. Shoemaker could be sent way for up to five years on the charge of capturing or distributing the image of an unclothed person and two years for eavesdropping. Police said the video recorder in the shower captured images of the woman who lives in the house, and conversations between her and her husband were recorded on the device in their bedroom. They called police after finding the hidden camera on September 2.