A 23-year-old Kirkland man has been charged with voyeurism for allegedly secretly videotaping five members of the volleyball team in the women’s restroom of a Woodinville warehouse during a team slumber party.
Steven C. Meeks made an initial appearance in King County Superior Court in Seattle on Thursday. Prosecutors asked that bail of $25,000 be set, but the court released Meeks pending an arraignment on Jan. 26. Prosecutors also asked for a no-contact order between Meeks and the young women involved.
Charging documents indicate Meeks is married to the team's assistant coach, and that the warehouse is owned by her father. The team had planned to spend the night at the warehouse on Nov. 5 for a slumber party that was not sanctioned by the school.
The team left the warehouse after one member spotted a camera in the ceiling of the women’s restroom while she was using the toilet, and police were called. Charging documents indicate that only the coach, her mother, Meeks and the team knew about the party, which was to have no male participants, and that Meeks had access to the facility.
The court documents state that when King County Sheriff’s Office detectives confronted Meeks, he ultimately confessed and admitted to setting up the camera for his sexual gratification. But he claimed that he had intended to “spy” on a co-worker he knew would be using the restroom the following Monday.
The documents listed five victims ages 15-17, and said detectives reviewed the video and found footage of two young women using the restroom and others looking at the camera.
Kathryn Reith, Lake Washington School District spokeswoman, applauded the players for responding appropriately.
"Certainly the situation was really a terrible invasion of privacy for the girls," she said. "We're very proud of the girls for immediately reporting it and thankful to the King County Sheriff's Office for responding so quickly. Everyone did the right thing."
The warehouse is in the 14200 block of NE 200th Street in Woodinville.
