June 20, 2012 at 5:47 p.m.
County official charged with secretly videotaping intern
According to a criminal complaint filed June 14, Elmer Goetsch, 81, a member of the Oneida County Board of Adjustment, has been charged with capturing an image of nudity without consent and reproducing a representation of nudity without consent.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of three years, six months in prison and $10,000 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint, an intern staying at Goetsch's home called the police June 12 after hearing an odd noise.
The student said he followed the sound to Goetsch's bedroom where he saw a picture of his bedroom on a television screen. He then went into the room where he was staying and found what he believed to be a camera between a sink and a mirror.
He also discovered a box with labeled buttons indicating a camera was set up in another bedroom, where a second intern was staying, and in a bathroom.
Both students told police they did not give Goetsch permission to record them in the nude.
When confronted by Det. Sgt. Dave Kroll of the Oneida County Sheriff's Office, Goetsch said he didn't know about the camera and expressed displeasure that the intern called law enforcement, rather than talk to him about his concerns.
When Kroll asked additional questions, the complaint says, Goetsch asked for an attorney. Kroll then arrested Goetsch.
A subsequent search of Goetsch's home resulted in the discovery of three pinhole cameras and a videotape that contained nude images of one of the interns.
"Mr. Goetsch's bedroom contained a television and VCR that were directly connected, through a 4-channel switch, to three identified covert surveillance cameras in the home," Kroll wrote in a report included in the complaint. "Given the nature and configuration of this equipment and recording, it seems highly likely that someone was manually manipulating the system controls and switching the feed channels to track (one of the men) between the bedroom and the bathroom to capture live recordings of (him) in both rooms."
According to a Three Lakes Waterfront Association newsletter, the interns were helping the group with the Clean Boats/Clean Waters program. They were staying at Goetsch's home while helping monitor boats for aquatic invasive species.
Association President Ed Jacobson said Tuesday that his group has employed summer interns before, but they usually stayed together in a house in Plum Lake. This is the first year they stayed at a private residence, he said.
Goetsch is the secretary for the Board of Adjustment, a quasi-judicial body that handles appeals of zoning decisions. Board Chairman Harland Lee said the panel is aware of Goetsch's arrest. He noted Goetsch did not attend a board meeting Tuesday.
Board members are appointed by the Oneida County Board of Supervisors, he added. Supervisors can replace Board of Adjustment members with a majority vote.
According to court records, Goetsch is free on a $10,000 signature bond with the condition that he have no contact with the two interns.
A preliminary hearing in Oneida County Circuit Court is set for July 16.
(Reporter Kyle Rogers contributed to this report.)
Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].
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