MOORHEAD-A Moorhead man pleaded guilty on Monday, Sept. 25, in Clay County District Court to a charge of interfering with the privacy of someone under 18 by hiding a camera in the women's bathroom of a Moorhead restaurant.
Sam Thomas Hagen, 18, admitted that he placed the camera under the sink of Pancheros Mexican Grill in order to record videos for his own sexual pleasure.
As part of a plea agreement, he is to serve 120 days in jail and pay fines and fees totalling at least $1,000.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30.
According to court records:
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On May 5, Moorhead police were sent to Pancheros, 803 Belsly Boulevard, after three girls told the restaurant manager that a cellphone was recording people in the women's bathroom.
One of the girls, who is 12 or 13, told a police officer she found a phone that was taped to the underside of a sink and aimed toward the toilets. The manager told police that when the phone was discovered, Hagen, who was working at the time, left the restaurant.
Hagen no longer works there.
Police found Hagen at home, and he acknowledged taping the phone to the sink. He also told police he had done it before at a prior workplace and had been caught. He was fired in that case, but no police report was filed, according to a court complaint that did not name his previous employer.
Police searched Hagen's phone and found three videos that showed a total of four females using the Pancheros bathroom. The videos were from April 12, April 28 and May 5.
The May 5 video captured the girl who discovered the phone. Hagen said he did not intentionally film the girl, but acknowledged that the bathroom is used by all ages, the court complaint stated.