SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KSBY) - A client found a hidden camera pointed directly at them in a changing room at a women's gym in San Luis Obispo last week, according to investigators with the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office.
The client first discovered the camera on Aug. 23.
CCC Fitness — the gym where the camera was discovered — is located off of Higuera Street and has been operating for years.
The facility offers personal training, online coaching, massage therapy, and other services for women. But now a client claims they found a hidden camera in one of the bathrooms, and it was reported to local authorities.
Officials are trying to determine what charges could be filed in this particular case.
“It’s important for the public to know that our office will take an aggressive posture," said Dan Dow, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney. "We will aggressively seek to have accountability and ensure that they never do such a thing again."
Dow says it could be a violation of privacy — classified as a misdemeanor.
While the district attorney says that these types of cases are quite uncommon, they will continue to prosecute anyone filming without consent.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Investigators say to contact Sgt. Kemp with the San Luis Obispo Police Department at (805) 783-7765, if you have any other information related to this case.
Multiple calls for comment to CCC Fitness have gone unanswered.
“It’s disgusting": Locals share opinions regarding discovery
A former client who used to go to the gym for massage therapy says this location was supposed to be a safe space.
“This is a place that was projected as a safer place for women to be and to work out. A place where we could feel comfortable and even though I wasn’t working out there,” said Heather Batie, a Morro Bay resident. “I was using the facility. I was using the restroom. I was getting massages there and that was a place that was supposed to be safe for us.”
Dow says his office will investigate how long the camera was placed there and whether anyone was filmed without their consent.
“I couldn't even imagine what the women right now feel like were potentially being filmed in the restroom of all places and just to see where that camera was facing towards the toilet," said Batie. "I am shocked."
A friend of one of the gym's staff members echoed those thoughts as they were packing up gym belongings.
“It’s disgusting," said the man, who is a local. "It’s repulsive. You don't provide a safe place for people and turn around on them.”
Others are waiting for authorities to share what they find in their investigation once it is complete.
“It definitely makes everybody super uncomfortable," stated a woman who is an employee of a neighboring business. "We don’t want to jump to any conclusions about what actually happened there, and so we’re just kind of waiting to learn more about what actually happened and all of the details of the investigation."
