Judge Bans Use Of Cameras For Fmr. Boy Scout Leader Convicted Of Secretly Recording Women Using Restroom
SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) -- A former Sacramento executive and Boy Scout troop leader who was convicted four years ago of secretly recording women using the restroom and shower at his home has been ordered to stop using cellphones or other electronic devices that are equipped with cameras.
Superior Court Judge Ben Davidian imposed the no-camera rule on Friday as a condition of 59-year-old Michael Lyon's bail. Lyon, the former chief executive of Lyon Real Estate who was once a prominent philanthropist in the area, was jailed in October on probation-violation charges after investigators allegedly found drugs and other video recording equipment in his home.
"No cameras of any kind in possession of Mr. Lyon," the judge said after he agreed to release Lyon if he could make $250,000 bail. "That means no cellphone with a camera on it. No computer with a camera on it. No still camera, motion pictures, any kind of filming device at all - anything that's able to transmit stills or streaming action, any kind of filming whatsoever. And no recording equipment."
Davidian said the only exception to the rule would be outdoor security cameras.
Lyon pleaded guilty in March 2011 to four counts of electronic eavesdropping after he was accused of using hidden cameras to record friends and household workers in settings they thought were private and also to film his encounters with prostitutes, the newspaper said. He received a suspended two-year prison sentence and paid $2.5 million to settle a civil suit brought by eight former baby sitters, nannies and friends.
Sacramento County prosecutors charged him on Friday with 16 new counts of electronic eavesdropping. The alleged offenses involved eight different women and happened between January and September of last year, The Bee said. Lyon has pleaded not guilty.
Defense lawyer Michael William Portanova told the newspaper that it will be difficult for his client to abide by the personal camera ban because Lyon is a life-long "camera hobbyist."