Man, 42, Hid Camera In Mall Of America Changing Room: Police

BLOOMINGTON, MN — A 42-year-old Elk River man is accused of hiding cameras in a Mall of America store fitting room and other stores, as well as swimming pools and one high school.

Trevor A. Nielson, 42, was charged in Hennepin County with interference with privacy against a minor. The county attorney's office says the charge was filed after a nearly yearlong investigation.

The manager of the mall's Forever 21 store called police Sept. 28, 2019, to report that a man had been in one of the dressing rooms for an unusually long time. The manager said she thought he was the same man who had done the same thing two months earlier and that, after he left, store officials discovered a video camera hidden in one of the fitting rooms, police said.

When Nielson stepped out from the changing room, police stopped him and searched him. They found his cell phone, a roll of double-sided black tape and strips of the backing from the tape that had been cut to the same length, according to the criminal complaint.

Store employees found a camera hidden in the fitting room next to the one where Nielson had been sitting for almost an hour, police said. The same black tape, cut to the same length as the discarded backing, was holding the camera to the wall, according to the complaint.

Nielson admitted he hid the camera in the fitting room and he had done so other times, according to authorities.

He also told investigators that he had secretly recorded people many times in many locations, including the 15-year-old daughter of his girlfriend, the complaint states. He also admitted that before police arrived at the store, he was watching the video feed on his cell phone from the adjacent fitting room, authorities said.

Using a search warrant, police confiscated Nielson’s electronic devices. Police said they found many videos of nude and semi-nude women in changing rooms, many of them likely under the age of 18, according to the complaint.

Officers also discovered videos from a camera that had been attached to Nielson’s shoe or lower pant leg. He captured videos of women in the next changing room by moving his foot under the barrier between the rooms, the complaint states.

Nielson accidentally captured his face in the mirror in one video, police said.

Officers also found secretly recorded videos of students at Elk River High School as well as videos of teenage girls at swimming pools, parks and other areas, according to the complaint.

The complaint was issued as a summons, and no first court appearance has been set, according to a news release.