Naked Women Caught Hotel Voyeur In Act

JULY 23--A businessman arrested for surreptitiously filming two naked women in an adjoining Florida hotel room told police that he frequently engaged in such video voyeurism as he traveled across the country for work, according to an arrest report.

Robert Privette, a 49-year-old South Carolina resident, was busted last week following an incident at a DoubleTree resort in Key West. Charged with burglary and voyeurism, Privette is free on $30,000 bond in advance of his arraignment next week on the felony counts.

Privette, cops allege, slid a tiny camera under the door separating his room from that of the victims, ages 24 and 27. Privette, seen at right, began recording the vacationing duo after hearing them return from the beach last Wednesday evening.

In a post-arrest interview, Privette said that he had first placed the camera under the door earlier in the day when he “heard girls in the conjoining room.” Privette, cops reported, observed the bikini-clad women “talking about going to the beach.”

After returning to the room, the younger woman was standing naked in front of a mirror “as she was planning to send a picture to her boyfriend back home.” When the second woman exited the bathroom after showering, she noticed a “long black cord that appeared to have a camera on it, coming from under the conjoined room’s door,” police reported.

As the object was “slowly scanning the room,” the older woman yelled, “What is that? That’s a fucking camera!” While the woman was “still frantically pointing at the object and yelling,” the device was retracted. The victim told police she then heard “someone from the other room run around and a door slam.”

After the women called 911, cops questioned Privette, who was in the room next door. Privette said that he heard the women scream, but thought “they had a bug in the room or something like that.”

Described by police as “anxiously sitting” and “beginning to sweat,” Privette reportedly confessed after a patrolman said cops could get a warrant to search his room.

According to the arrest report, Privette said he began recording the two women after hearing them return to room, where one of victims joked, “I have seashells in my vagina.” Privette said he responded by attaching a camera to his phone and sliding it under the door.

Police confiscated the spy camera, which Privette had hidden in a chair cushion. They also seized a laptop, two hard drives, and a Nikon camera.

During questioning, cops say, Privette admitted to “using his camera multiple times during his trips for work.” Asked how often he used the camera to spy on people, Privette “could only say 10 plus times over the past year, all over the country.”

Privette is alternately described as a “drafting supervisor” and “electric tech” in police and jail records. Privette’s LinkedIn profile describes him as an industrial designer employed by Atlas Technologies, a defense and space contractor headquartered in North Charleston, South Carolina. The arrest report identifies Privette’s employer as “US Government.”

Privette also operates an electronics repair business from his home. While the web site for RP Phone and Tablet Repair remains online, its Facebook page appears to have been deleted. Privette’s LinkedIn page also notes that he has served as an “Advancement Coordinator” with the Boy Scouts of America, a position that required him to maintain troop records and “assist the boy leadership in planning their meetings.” (3 pages)