MADISON (WKOW) – A 24-year old Fennimore man was charged Friday in connection to allegedly secretly recording videos in a Madison health club and having other video of naked women on his cell phone without their consent.
Ethan Prien was arrested in December by Madison Police after allegedly placing a cell phone in a bathroom of the Anytime Fitness club location on South Midvale Boulevard, but was released from jail after his arrest.
Prien is charged with three counts of misdemeanor invasion of privacy by use of a surveillance device and two felony counts of capturing an intimate representation without consent.
The complaint states in December, a health club member went into a bathroom and discovered a “…black cell phone…under the sink…the cell phone was on.”
Records show after police seized Prien’s phone, they confirmed some photos on the phone had been recorded not only at the initial health club location, but also from a bathroom at Anytime Fitness on Atwood Avenue.
The complaint says police interviewed Prien’s girlfriend. In an attempt to identify the naked women in some of the photos on Prien’s phone, a detective “…showed…the first picture and (woman) gasped and started to cry, indicating the picture was of her roommate.”
Court records say other photos on Prien’s phone were taken from hidden spots in places other than the health clubs.
The complaint says the girlfriend’s roommate and another woman told police they did not give consent to be videotaped while in an intimate circumstance.
Court records do not reference any intimate photo retrieved from Prien’s phone that’s linked to a health club.
Prein is scheduled to appear in Dane County court on the five charges in July.
