Building Inspector Allegedly Videotaped Bathroom-Goers

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA — A 49-year-old Huntington Beach man has been charged with secretly recording dozens of men and women at a City Hall bathroom--where he worked-- and a nearby coffee house--where he frequented-- according to an announcement by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Wednesday. It began with the discovery of a tiny camera inside a unisex bathroom, and ended with an arrest, Tuesday.

Andrew James Jensen, 49, of Huntington Beach, was ordered to be held on $315,000 bail while awaiting arraignment Oct. 15 in a Torrance courtroom, court officials said.

He is charged with 89 misdemeanor counts of unauthorized invasion of privacy -- peeking -- for allegedly using a hidden camera to secretly record 63 women and 26 men between June 13 and July 5, according to prosecutors.

Jensen is a former building inspector for the city of Ranchos Palos Verdes.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lomita Station arrested Jensen at about 2 p.m. after prosecutors filed a misdemeanor complaint against him alleging the many voyeuristic charges.

"On July 5, 2018, a hidden miniature camera was discovered by a Rancho Palos Verdes city staffer in a unisex employee restroom," according to a sheriff's department statement. "A police report was filed and Lomita Station initiated a criminal investigation.

"It was determined that Jensen, who was a Rancho Palos Verdes building inspector, allegedly secreted the camera in the restroom at City Hall, and at a nearby local business. He is currently being booked and held at Lomita Sheriff's Station in lieu of $450,000 bail."

Anyone with additional information about Jensen was urged to call Detective Terence Peterson at (310) 891-3211.

Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-TIPS or at lacrimestoppers.org.

City News Service, with Patch Editor, Ashley Ludwig contributing

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