YORK COUNTY, S.C. — John Eddy, 60, was the first person many people saw when he unlocked the doors of the Lake Wylie YMCA and let them in at 4:30 a.m. None of them had any idea he was also filming them going to the bathroom and undressing to take a shower.
In court Tuesday, Eddy turned around and faced more than a dozen women who were there to see him go to prison.
"I'm sincerely sorry," he said. "I wish I could undo it."
Eddy was there to plead guilty to 36 counts of voyeurism. He admitted setting up hidden cameras in the women's locker room and bathroom areas of two YMCA branches in York County. He recorded women undressing there while he was the night janitor at the YMCA on Highway 49 in Lake Wylie and On Gold Hill Road in Tega Cay.
Read more: Police: Man accused of 80 counts of filming women at local YMCAs
Prosecutors said Eddy was recording the women without their knowledge from March 18 until June 12 last year. One camera was mounted under a counter pointed at the shower stalls at the Lake Wylie YMCA. A second camera was hidden in the ceiling above a toilet and a third was placed in a toilet paper dispenser.
Prosecutors said Eddy would let the cameras run all day, then bring the videos home, watch them and decide which ones to save.
Sheriff's deputies identified 25 women who were seen either naked or partially unclothed on the video.
Read more: YMCA employee under investigation for hidden camera
Some appeared more than once over several months.
Judge Lee Alford asked reporters and photographers not to identify any of the victims who showed up in court. Several spoke out against Eddy.
One woman said, "What you did was wrong, and like me you need to suffer the embarrassment and devastation of what I had to go through."
Another asked the judge to show no leniency.
"I think he should spend time in prison and should have counseling for what he did," she said.
Several of the victims said that what happened altered their lives forever.
"I won't go into a locker room anymore. I won't undress in a dressing room. I always feel like someone's watching," said one victim.
On Tuesday, the victims watched video of Eddy setting up his video cameras in front of showers and toilets. On each clip you can see his face clearly, along with his YMCA name tag and his fingers working to position the camera.
The camera under the counter was found when a woman accidentally kicked it, knocking it to the floor. That launched the police investigation, where deputies seized the videos and tried to identify the many victims.
Eddy is a retired insurance salesman with a master's degree and no criminal record. He told the court he's been unable to work since his arrest.
His family is bankrupt, he's going to prison and he'll be a registered sex offender for life.
Alford said it appeared Eddy had lived a good life, and was a dependable father and husband. He then said he needed to send a message that this behavior can't be tolerated.
Voyeurism is a misdemeanor offense that carries up to three years in prison for each count. Eddy was sentenced to nine years in prison, followed by five years of probation.
WSOC
