Mitchell Wasek, son of Buc-ee's co-founder accused of secretly recording house guests
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Mitchell Wasek, the son of a Buc-ee's co-founder is accused of secretly recording house guests at both his Dallas home and at his father's home on Lake Travis.
The 28-year-old SMU law student was arrested Tuesday in Travis County on allegations he recorded people having sex, changing clothes, using the bathroom and showering, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
"You expect that people who go to law school are coming here to help people and to help their community change stuff like that... It's definitely disturbing knowing that I go to school with somebody that is charged with these things," shared fellow SMU law student Morgan Whisenhunt.
Whisenhunt doesn't know Wasek personally, but lives in the community of off campus apartments called The Village where Wasek was leasing his unit until last September.
"With the amount of charges that are on the table -- and I have a philosophy that I always believe the survivors first -- so it's extremely disturbing and just knowing that he's in the same school is me in the same neighborhood as me is scary," Whisenhunt continued.
The investigation began in May, after one of Wasek's guests at the family lake house, who works in cyber security told police they found a charging port plugged into the wall of a guest bathroom. That led to the discovery of a hidden camera, according to the arrest-warrant affidavit. The camera had a micro-card, which the friend took. They watched it, and reportedly saw themselves and other people undressing in bathrooms and bedrooms of the home.
"They were unaware that the recordings existed in the bedroom and bathroom, and indicated they did not consent to being recorded or photographed," the arrest affidavit states.
There was also similar footage, which was reportedly recorded in Wasek's Dallas home. Authorities also discovered more than a half dozen spy and police body cameras Wasek reportedly bought on Amazon.
When the camera and its contents were handed over to Dallas police, 68 files of footage including the 13 reported victims were on it, the affidavit stated.
Wasek was charged with 28 felony counts of invasive visual recording. He was released on bond not long after his arrest.