Cameras in bathroom lead to felony charges

The discovery of cameras hidden in the communal bathroom of a Saukville apartment building on May 14 has led to felony charges against a 50-year-old man who lived there.

Michael S. Ward was arrested after authorities recovered memory cards from the cameras and, in addition to finding a video of a teenage girl showering, discovered an image of Ward that he apparently took by accident while setting up the cameras, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ozaukee County Circuit Court.

And when officers went to confront him at the Mill Street apartment building, they noticed his laptop was on a coffee table in the center of the room. Eventually, it went into screen saver mode and started playing a montage of photos saved on the computer, one of which was of a woman showering that was apparently recorded by a hidden camera, the complaint states.

Ward is charged with two counts of capturing an intimate image without consent and three counts of possession of child pornography. He also faces one misdemeanor charge of invasion of privacy.

According to the complaint, a woman who lives in the apartment building and cleans the communal bathroom told authorities that on May 14 she found two cameras hidden in a fabric softener box taped underneath a cabinet above the toilets and facing the shower in the bathroom. She said the cameras weren’t there two days earlier when she last cleaned.

Officers who examined footage from the cameras found a video title “Molly showering,” which was taken on Jan. 25, 2019, and showed what appeared to be a teenage girl showering. The video was not taken in the bathroom where the cameras were found.

Also found on the cameras were videos of the Saukville apartment building showing two men using the bathroom.

An agent from the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigations inspected Ward’s computer and found three pornographic images of children, one of which was labeled “Alia and 12-year-old Lucy,” the complaint states. Authorities believe the girls depicted in the images were between the ages of 11 and 13.

Officers who searched Ward’s apartment also found a bag containing girls’ underwear with names and dates on them, according to the complaint. One pair was labeled with a girl’s name and what officers believe is her 2017 birthdate.

During a May 19 court hearing, Ozaukee County Judge Steve Cain set Ward’s bail at $30,000 and ordered him not to have contact with the woman who found the cameras, her 13-year-old daughter or anyone younger than 18. He also ordered him to stay at least 1,000 feet away from the apartment building and not use the internet except for work.