Man Indicted on Charges of Secretly Videotaping Ellicott CIty Women

A grand jury Wednesday indicted a Columbia man on charges that he secretly videotaped two women in their Ellicott City condo. 

Michael Stephen McKenny, 42, is being held at the Howard County Detention Center. 

According to charging documents, a 29-year-old Ellicott City woman called police on Sept. 4 and said she found a hidden camera in her bedroom that was focused on her bathroom.

During the investigation, police determined that the camera had a motion sensor that began recording once it detected movement. According to the charging document, the camera had recorded the 29-year-old and her 30-year-old roommate in the bedrooms and bathrooms of their Montgomery Run Road condominium.

Both women said they had not given anyone permission to record them.

According to investigators, McKenny knew the two women women. He is accused of stealing a key to their Montgomery Run Road Condominium and making a copy—which was why there were no signs of forced entry at the residence.

Police would not give more information on McKenny's alleged relationship to the women because they did not want to reveal the women's identities, police spokesperson Sherry Llewellyn said. 

According to the time stamps on the videos, police determined that the suspect first entered the condo on June 26. He returned at least four times to move the camera from a bedroom to a closet, and again to move the camera to a higher position in the closet, aimed at the bathroom, according to the charging document.

The camera also had footage of a man whom police could not identify during the initial investigation. On Thursday, Oct. 18, police released video footage of the suspect to the media. The next night, McKenny was arrested at his Columbia home.

McKenny was indicted Wednesday on four burglary charges, two surveillance charges and two charges of surveillance with prurient intent.

In 1991, McKenny was convicted in Prince George's County Circuit Court of attempted second-degree rape and housebreaking. 

According to John Erzen, spokesperson for the Prince George's County State's Attorney's Office, McKenny received 10 years for each charge. However a judge suspended jail time and gave him five years supervised probation.

Related articles:

- Police: Man Secretly Videotaped 2 Ellicott City Women (VIDEO)

- Police Arrest Suspected 'Peeping Tom'

- No Bond for Man Police Say Secretly Recorded Ellicott City Women

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