Photographer arrested for secretly filming models changing in his studio’s dressing room
posted Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 9:04 AM EDT
Mario Arthur Peralta III, a 42-year old photographer in Jacksonville, Florida, has been arrested and is being held on a $50,000 bail after it was discovered he was filming female models as they were changing in the dressing room of his studio.
According to Peralta’s website, which is still up and functioning, he has been a photographer for 21 years, operating under the business Mario Peralta Photography. His arrest was made after a parent of a teen model complained to local authorities that Peralta had hidden a digital video camera in a dressing room, where the teen was filmed as she was undressing and dressing.
Police obtained search warrants and appropriately apprehended Peralta at his residence this past Monday. He is currently being held on a $50,000 bail. Local authorities have asked anyone with more information to call local detective M. Kulcsar at (904) 247–4030.
It appears all of Mario Peralta’s social media accounts and photography-related pages are still online, including Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram.
(via Jacksonville.com)
Update: A more thorough update from local Jacksonville news site, News 4 Jax, reports the father of the 16-year-old model who first turned in Mr. Peralta discovered a precariously placed digital clock on the wall of the changing room in Peralta's studio. Upon investigating the clock, the father found an SD card inside. Police said the father took the SD card home to see what files were on the computer. In doing so, the father saw images of Peralta adjusting the camera, as well as nude and dressed image of his daughter, the model. The SD card was then turned over to authorities. Investigators confirmed there were six videos of Peralta adjusting the camera in addition to videos of him both touching himself and pointing a remote at the disguised camera. No further information as been given on the status of Peralta.