COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. – A Columbia County man accused of taking inappropriate cellphone video of a child was arrested Thursday night.
Ryan Johnson, 34, was taken into custody after deputies said his girlfriend went to authorities about what she found stored on his cloud.
That woman, who suspected Johnson was cheating on her, found more than she was looking for when she started snooping on his cellphone, according to Johnson's arrest report.
She told deputies that what she found was disturbing -- a video file deleted from the device but backed up to his cloud storage.
Detectives said the video showed an underage girl getting out of a bathtub and drying herself off.
Investigators said Johnson stuck a cellphone under the bathroom door and secretly recorded the girl getting out of the shower.
He is now facing charges of lewd and lascivious behavior with a victim between 12 and 16 years old and video voyeurism on a child under the age of 16.
News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said newer cellphone technology is making it easier for people to commit video voyeurism
“They have wider angled lenses, so it’s easier to capture images from a wider angle,” Smith said. “It’s easier to do this -- slipping a phone under the door of a restroom.”
Particularly some public restrooms, Smith said.
“Public restrooms have wider openings underneath, and the crack between the doors is also wider,” Smith said. “Someone could be standing outside videotaping you, so in public restrooms, you need to watch out and watch your surroundings.”
Johnson remains in jail on $500,000 bond.