4+ Years in Prison for Home Security Worker Who Accessed Security Cameras to Spy on Women

A security camera installation worker for ADT was sentenced Wednesday to a little more than four years in federal prison for illegally accessing the security cameras of more than 200 North Texas customers, reports the Dallas Morning News:

Telesforo Aviles, age 35, faced a maximum of five years in prison for computer fraud under the terms of his plea agreement, in which he admitted to accessing customer accounts over 9,600 times since 2015.

He was cuffed and taken into custody to begin serving his sentence after the hearing.

The quiet and introverted technician, a senior supervisor with 17 years at ADT, was caught last year after the company was alerted by a customer to suspicious activity, said his lawyer, Tom Pappas. Aviles, who is married with five children, turned himself in when he was asked to, Pappas said. 'He's mortified by what he did,' Pappas said. 'He sees what he did as a betrayal of himself, too.' Of the nearly 10,000 images Aviles accessed, about 40 were 'sexual in nature' and none involved children, Pappas said.

An ADT spokesman said the company had no comment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sid Mody had asked Starr to give Aviles the maximum sentence, saying that while 217 accounts were accessed, the total number of victims is much higher given that each household had multiple family members. That violation, he said, destroyed 'in the worst way' their sense of feeling safe and secure at home... Starr said he considered Aviles' cooperation with authorities and lack of a criminal history as well as the fact that the conduct involved a 'lengthy period of time.' Aviles noted the homes that had 'attractive women' and repeatedly logged into their accounts to view the footage, prosecutors said...

ADT has since been hit with class-action lawsuits from customers over the breach.

The article also notes the story of one woman who filed a federal lawsuit last month against ADT. She'd told the court Aviles persuaded her to install cameras in her bedrooms after she'd specifically questioned whether it was truly necessary. 'Aviles told her that it was necessary because a burglar could enter the house through the bedroom windows, and the cameras would monitor that,' her lawsuit says. 'Of course, Aviles' placement of the cameras had nothing to do with potential burglars.'

In a statement filed with the court, one female homeowner reportedly wrote that 'This deliberate and calculated invasion of privacy is arguably more harmful than if I had installed no security system and my house had been burglarized.'

Read more of this story at Slashdot.