An Appleton man is accused of secretly filming women in a dressing room at the Fox River Mall and putting a hidden camera in his friend's home, according to a criminal complaint.
Andrew Persen, 28, was charged with 10 counts of capturing an intimate representation without consent, five counts of invasion of privacy with a surveillance device and one count of posting or publishing a sexually explicit image without consent.
Investigators were led to Persen after a woman told police he posted a nude video he secretly took of her on a porn website. The woman said she and Persen had been friends since high school, according to court documents.
She did not give consent for the video, which was taken in her bathroom, the criminal complaint said.
When police searched Persen's home, they found several electronic storage devices.
Persen admitted to officers that he put a hidden camera in the woman's bathroom and in a Target dressing room at the Fox River Mall, the criminal complaint said.
He also said he put a camera in his own bathroom to get video of his adult sister, court documents said. Police found three videos of his friend and one of his sister, with all three showing Persen installing the camera, the criminal complaint said.
Officers also found 66 video files of the inside of the Target dressing room, with six showing nude women changing, according to the complaint. The timestamp on the videos was from April 6, 2017.
Police found evidence in the woman's home and the Target dressing room that a hidden camera had been placed inside.
A Target spokesperson responded to the situation Tuesday with the following statement:
At Target, our guests are at the center of everything we do and our commitment to creating a safe and secure shopping environment in our stores is unwavering. As part of this commitment to safety, we have robust procedures, policies and trainings in place to ensure that our stores are safe places to shop and work. Since this is an active investigation, please contact law enforcement with further questions.
Persen will be back in court in November 3.
