Ryan Anthony Perez

A Somerville man pleaded guilty to charges he took video of women inside a YMCA locker room without their knowledge, Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone informed the public today.

Ryan Perez, 25, of Somerville, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court to charges of photographing an unsuspecting nude person (4 counts), wiretapping, and possession of child pornography (3 counts).

Middlesex Superior Court Judge Jane Haggerty scheduled sentencing for December 19 at 2 p.m.

“This defendant secretly recorded women in the Somerville YMCA’s female-only locker room, violating the sanctity of a place where they had an absolute expectation of privacy,” District Attorney Leone said.  “The defendant’s troubling actions are compounded by the fact that authorities additionally located images of child pornography on his personal cell phone, speaking to his sexual deviance.  By pleading guilty today, the defendant took responsibility for his actions.”

According to authorities, on November 1, 2011, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Somerville police responded to the YMCA at 101 Highland Avenue in Somerville for reports of a male taking pictures of women in the women’s locker room.  Upon arrival, officers met with one of the victims who informed them that she had taken a shower and was in the process of getting dressed when she observed an individual in a bathroom stall, later identified as the defendant, slide a cell phone out from under the door and point it in her direction.  The victim quickly got dressed, left the locker room, and told another female, the second victim, what had happened.

The two women returned to the locker room and witnessed the defendant leave the stall with a pink towel covering his face.  When the victim realized the defendant was a male, she immediately began to yell for help and the defendant fled the locker room.

Somerville police located the defendant, who matched the suspect’s description given by the victims, in the men’s locker room.  The defendant was placed under arrest and transported to the Somerville Police Department.

On November 3, 2011, Somerville Police applied for and received a search warrant for the defendant’s cellular telephone.  A subsequent search of the phone recovered six videos that were allegedly created on November 1, 2011 between the hours of 8:33 a.m. and 9:26 a.m.  The videos were determined to have been created inside the Somerville YMCA women’s locker room and depicted four victims in various states of nudity.

A further forensic analysis of the defendant’s cell phone revealed approximately 23 images of child pornography.

The defendant was arraigned in Somerville District Court on November 1, 2011 where he was released on the condition that he stays away from the women’s locker room at the Somerville YMCA. He was indicted by a Middlesex County Grand Jury on February 7.

The prosecutor assigned to this case is Assistant District Attorney Ceara Mahoney.  The Victim Witness Advocate is Rani Scott.  This case was investigated by the Somerville Police Department.