Peeping Tom dental assistant victimized dozens in Howard County, police say

BALTIMORE -- A dental assistant at a Columbia dental office has been indicted after allegedly recording inappropriate videos of women and illegally accessing private media of patients and coworkers, according to police. 

A 16-year-old girl reported that she spotted a man recording her over the door of a dressing room at a clothing store in The Mall at Columbia in December 2023. 

Delano Draine, 43, of Owings Mills, is accused of not only filming the teen but also violating the privacy of his coworkers and patients.

After reviewing Draine's electronic devices, detectives found numerous upskirt and dressing room videos of at least 11 female victims at different locations throughout Howard County and other victims throughout the region. 

"We don't expect to find them," Howard County Police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said. "We believe that they don't even know that they were victimized."

"Peeping Tom," Columbia resident Elizabeth Arnest said. "Is it violent? No. Is it an invasion of privacy and uncomfortable? Yeah."

According to the indictment, Draine also captured the cell phone passwords of women who were both his patients and co-workers by recording them using their phones. After gaining access to the victims' phones, Draine allegedly went through their media galleries and recorded their photos and videos on his phone.

Detectives said they identified all 37 women who were victims from the dental office where Draine worked. 

"It's our understanding that he would look at the victims as they would enter the codes into their own phones and then he would gain access to the phone, open it and then look at their videos and photos and find anything that seemed really personal and record them on to his own phone," Llewellyn said.

In a 68-count indictment, Draine faces peeping tom, visual surveillance, theft, and computer crime charges.  He is held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center.

"Kind of unsettling, and it's kind of like, is this going to become a normal thing?" Columbia shopper Vincent Scovill said.

Police don't believe Draine released anything he allegedly recorded.