Milwaukee man gets 2.5 years probation for hidden camera in women's restroom

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Thanongsack Sayavong on Monday, Sept. 16 to two and a half years probation.

Sayavong was accused of installing a hidden camera inside a women's restroom at a car dealership in Glendale. Sayavong pleaded guilty on July 26 to three counts of “capture an intimate representation without consent.”

According to the criminal complaint, a Glendale police officer responded to the car dealership on April 6 for a “request for police.” A woman indicated to the officer that when she was using the women's bathroom, “she noticed what appeared to be a recording device partially concealed in the paper towel dispenser.” The device was removed from the dispenser and given to the officer. When the device was recovered, the complaint indicates “there were three poker chips that were also recovered, that appeared to be used as shims to position the recording device."

When a detective reviewed the video from the device, he “observed dozens of video clips of individuals.” The device also included a clip that shows Sayavong “placing the portable device in the women's bathroom paper towel dispenser. The defendant looked directly into the camera several times and it is apparent he is adjusting either the location or angle of the camera,” the complaint says. A manager at the car dealership helped authorities identify Sayavong as the man in the video.

The court sentenced Sayavong on Monday to three years of confinement and another three years of extended supervision. But then that sentence was stayed — and probation was put in place.