Man Secretly Filmed In Gymnastics Studio's Restroom: Police

CHEVY CHASE, MD — A Chevy Chase man was arrested after police allege he set up a video camera in the restroom at a Silver Spring gymnastics studio. Jonathan Oldale, 54, of Greystone Court, was charged by Montgomery County Police for conducting visual surveillance of an individual in a private place without his/her consent with prurient intent.

The attempted filming at Silver Star Gymnastics and Fitness Club, 2701 Pittman Drive, was reported by an employee on May 5. About three weeks earlier, the staffer told police, he noticed a backpack on the floor of the studio's unisex bathroom, picked up the backpack and saw various cords and wires inside it. As the employee left the bathroom he was approached by Oldale, a parent whose children are enrolled in gymnastics classes at the studio, who said the bag belonged to him and took it.

On the day he called police, the employee said the same backpack was positioned underneath a “Wet Floor” sign on the bathroom floor. A camera had been placed inside what appeared to be an automobile key fob and a light on the camera was illuminated, leading the staffer to think it was turned on.

Authorities say the employee took the camera out the backpack to see if anyone would retrieve it. Oldale was reportedly seen taking the bag from the restroom, and he then went to the club’s front desk two times to ask if anyone had turned in a key fob.

During a search of Oldale’s home and vehicle investigators reportedly found an instruction manual for a key fob camera in Oldale’s vehicle. An exam of a computer in his home turned up two videos of unidentified school-age girls being surreptitiously recorded while they were urinating in a bathroom.

Police say those recordings do not appear to be original videos, but appear to have been downloaded from the internet. To date, detectives have not located videos that include victims from the gymnastics studio.

On Oct. 11, detectives obtained a warrant for Oldale’s arrest; he turned himself into detectives on Oct. 18 was taken to the Central Processing Unit, and released on bond.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call detectives at 240-773-6710. To remain anonymous call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County toll-free at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).