A man has been charged with hiding a camera in a Mall of America fitting room, after a nearly year-long investigation.
Trevor Nielsen, 42, of Elk River has been charged with interference with privacy against a minor while being more than three years older than the victim.
The manager of Forever 21 at MOA called the Bloomington Police Department on Sept. 28, 2019 to report that a man had been in a dressing room for a long period of time, the criminal complaint reads.
The manager told police she thought it was the same man who had done the same thing two months earlier and after he left they discovered a camera hidden in the fitting room, the complaint states.
When Nielsen stepped out of the fitting room, police searched him, found his cell phone and double-sided black tape, prosecutors said.
Employees located a camera with backing from the black tape in the fitting room adjacent to the one he had been in.
Nielsen admitted to hiding the camera multiple times, according to the complaint.
Police used a search warrant to confiscate his electronic devices, and found a large number of nude and semi-nude women in changing rooms, many of them likely under 18 years of age, prosecutors said.
Officers also discovered videos from a camera that had been somehow attached to his shoe, and he would stick his shoe under the fitting room barriers to record, police said.
In one video, Nielsen accidentally records his face in the mirror, police said.
Officers also recovered videos of him secretly videotaping students at the Elk River High School, parks and other areas, the complaint states.
