Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Wantagh man was arraigned on a grand jury indictment for allegedly secretly recording at least nine women in tanning booths throughout Nassau County.
Jake Gabler-Colotti, 22, was arraigned before Judge Robert McDonald and charged with 20 counts of Unlawful Surveillance in the Second Degree (an E felony). Bail was continued, and the defendant is due back in court May 22. If convicted of the top count he faces one-and-a-third to four years in prison for each incident.
“This defendant is charged with illegally filming nine women in various stages of undress while they were inside tanning booths,” DA Singas said. “This kind of egregious invasion of privacy can cause victims great distress and we will hold Mr. Gabler-Colotti accountable.”
DA Singas said on March 12, the defendant was a customer at the Beach Bum Tanning Salon located on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown when a female customer saw him using a camera to videotape her while she was disrobing in the tanning room next to his.
When police arrived at the scene, the recording equipment was seized and an investigation commenced. This indictment alleges the defendant created a total of 10 videos involving nine women at the Levittown salon and the Beach Bum Tanning Salon in Seaford over two years.
The defendant allegedly hung the cameras over the short wall in between the tanning rooms to record the videos which were approximately two to eight minutes in length.
It is not believed any of the videos were shared or streamed.
The investigation is ongoing.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Perry of DA Singas’ Special Victims Bureau is handling this case. Cornell Bouse, Esq. represents the defendant.
A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.