KTIV NewsChannel 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and SportsOfficials describe how they caught "hospital peeper"

Officials describe how they caught "hospital peeper"

ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa (KTIV) -- A Lyon County hospital worker is accused of spying on women in a restroom at the local hospital through peepholes he allegedly made. The Lyon County Sheriff's Department tells NewsChannel 4 how they caught the suspect.

On December 27, the sheriff's department arrested 55-year-old John Elias, of George, Iowa. They say he drilled two holes into a heating duct to spy on women as they used a restroom at the Sanford Merrill Medical Center, in Rock Rapids.

Elias has been charged with invasion of privacy, third degree theft and tampering with evidence. Days later, employees at the hospital are still trying to make sense of the situation.

"I think there was a lot of disbelief," says hospital administrator Gordon Smith.

Smith says when a female employee thought something was strange, she immediately contacted authorities.

"There's a store room that's adjacent to the ladies' restroom and there was some noise in that room," Smith said.

"We decided that we were not going to allow any further victims to occur, so we decided to plug the holes that were drilled through the vent cover to see into this bathroom," said Lyon County Sheriff Blythe Bloemendaal.

The department then installed a hidden camera, which, investigators say, caught Elias in the act as he climbed a ladder to look through the holes. Bloemendaal says at some point, Elias discovered the camera and threw it away in a dumpster in Sibley. When officials discovered the camera was gone, they took Elias in for questioning.

"He did admit to taking the camera and to using the holes to see into the bathroom," Bloemendaal said.

The sheriff says the victims were not photographed in any way. The restroom is mainly used the by the dozen or so women working in the lower level of the building. Public access is minimal and no patients ever used it.

"It's an unfortunate experience, something that we hope to never to through again," Smith said.

Smith says Sanford has assessed and secured every restroom in all of their Lyon County facilities. The company is also working with affected employees to help them move on from the incident.

Authorities say John Elias resigned from the hospital. He is out of the Lyon County Jail on $2,000 bond. An initial court date is yet to be determined.

Online Reporter: Zach Tecklenburg