WASHINGTON — A Chevy Chase, Maryland, man is charged with production of child pornography after police found evidence that he was secretly recording kids using his bathroom, prosecutors said.
Jonathan Oldale, 54, was arrested Friday after an extensive investigation that started with the discovery of a hidden camera at the Silver Stars Gymnastics and Fitness in Silver Spring in May 2017, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said in a statement.
In May 2017, a Silver Stars employee told Montgomery County police he had found a backpack inside the unisex bathroom that had a hidden camera in it. The backpack was under a wet floor sign directly in front of the only toilet, and the camera was hidden inside a car’s key fob.
The camera was “hot to the touch” when it was recovered and its light was on, indicating that it was recording, the employee told police. Three weeks earlier, the employee said he had found the same backpack in the bathroom with cords and wires in it.
The backpack was then identified as Oldale’s, and police said last year that he is a parent whose children were enrolled in gymnastics classes at the facility at the time.
Police searched Oldale’s home that same month and conducted a digital forensic examination of the electronic devices they had found. Prosecutors said police found a program used to securely delete files and a browser installation that allows for anonymous communication and access to the dark web.
Police also uncovered evidence that Oldale had accessed child exploitation files and had references to a known dark web site — that law enforcement officials shut down in December 2016 — that gave users access to child porn.
After those findings, police then did a second search of Oldale’s home in July 2017 and seized cameras with SD cards from his office. Those SD cards had hundreds of videos filmed in his home’s bathroom, prosecutors said, and they depicted children using the shower and changing their clothes. Prosecutors added that at least 30 kids were filmed. Oldale was also caught on camera checking angles.
Law enforcement officials found that children attended “splash parties” at Oldale’s home, and a witness said Oldale had the children take showers before they went home because they would become covered in grass.
On Friday, Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Jack R. Smith sent an email to the school community, saying, “While the charges are connected to Mr. Oldale’s private residence, they involve dozens of school-aged children, many of whom attend MCPS schools. It is alleged that Mr. Oldale videotaped children during parties that he hosted at his home.”
Smith said Oldale was a Montgomery County parent and that the school system conducted a search of the schools where he had students enrolled after his first arrest.
In October 2017, police arrested Oldale and initially charged him with conducting visual surveillance of an individual in a private place without his/her consent with prurient intent. He was released on bond.
The school system did not find any cameras or surveillance devices then, Smith said. He added that the school system issued a no trespass order on Oldale.
“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. We will have Student Services staff available to provide counseling and support to students and families as needed,” Smith said.
