Judge: Peeping case defendant must disclose hard drive contents

Orion M. Graf

A Lawrence man charged with 10 felony counts of breach of privacy for secretly videotaping people in a downtown clothing store changing room must turn over decrypted information stored on a seized hard drive, a Douglas County judge said Friday.

District Judge Sally Pokorny granted a motion by the state to compel Orion M. Graf to turn over the evidence. Graf is scheduled to stand trial May 14 after pleading not guilty in January to charges alleged to have occurred between Nov. 1, 2012 and Feb. 23, 2013. The investigation began after a small camera with a battery pack was found in the dressing room of the Gap, 643 Massachusetts St.

According to the state’s motion filed in court, investigators reviewed approximately 17,000 video clips found on computers belonging to Graf. The computers’ Internet history, pictures, videos and searches “showed a strong interest in voyeuristic themes” and “hidden camera videos in locations where people were naked.” An external hard drive also seized was strongly encrypted, the motion said. Pokorny’s ruling Friday paved the way for the state to obtain information stored on the device.