Dana Caruso

A New Hampshire man has been arrested and charged with multiple sex offenses for allegedly installing video recording devices inside the family restrooms at a public beach on Sanibel.

Dana Alan Caruso, 58, of 126 Kings Highway, Hampton, was booked on Sept. 5 into the Lee County Jail on five felony counts of video voyeurism 24 years of age child less than 16 years of age and three misdemeanor counts of video voyeurism younger than 19 years of age, according to booking records.

He made his first appearance before a judge the following day and bond was set at $140,000.

The Sanibel Police Department reported that the judge also ruled Caruso be fitted with a GPS tracking device and stipulated he may not return to the alleged crime scene, nor contact the alleged victims.

Caruso posted bail the same day and was released from jail, according to court documents.

On Sept. 7, defense attorney Zachary Cantor entered a not guilty plea with the Lee County Clerk of Courts on behalf of Caruso. Cantor did not return a message seeking comment on the allegations.

Caruso was taken into custody on an arrest warrant on Aug. 19 at the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. He was extradited to Florida and transported to jail by U.S. Special Transport.

According to court documents, an employee with the city of Sanibel’s Public Works Department noticed on July 28 that a new fire alarm device had been installed in both the north and south family restrooms at the Bowman’s Beach Park. After verifying with a supervisor that staff had not installed any new devices, the employee contacted the Sanibel police and reported the two covert cameras.

Officers responded to the scene and opened an investigation.

Each camera had been disguised as a red square fire alarm with warning lights, according to court documents. The SPD discovered a video camera and SD memory card in each device. There were 190 videos on one card and 87 videos on the other, with males and females, adults and children recorded.

In a press release, the Sanibel police reported that there were 55 victims total.

“Some of the victims appear in more than one video clip,” it noted.

Sanibel police added that it only had evidence of criminal activity on July 28.

During its investigation, the SPD identified a man who entered both restrooms on July 28 within a 15-minute time period when the cameras were activated. According to court documents, it traced the man to a Toyota 4Runner in the parking lot and discovered that the vehicle had entered Sanibel on nine days between July 16 and 28. The vehicle was registered to Caruso. Photos on a social media account of his were matched with surveillance footage at the restrooms.

In inquiring about past interactions between Caruso and law enforcement, the SPD talked with the Rye Police Department in New Hampshire. The local department reported that it had charged Caruso last year for placing a cell phone in a shoebox to record females changing in a changing room, according to court documents. Caruso was arrested and he eventually plead guilty to evasion of privacy in the case.

On Aug. 9, the SPD secured its warrant and coordinated with agencies to locate him.

Caruso has an arraignment scheduled for Oct. 10.

The SPD is trying to identify as many of the 55 people who were recorded as possible. Anyone who used the family restrooms on July 28 are asked to contact Detective John Eicher at 239-472-3111.