Man who videoed 13-year-old with spy-cam found with hundreds of images of child-porn, police say
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IDAHO FALLS — A man who was arrested for allegedly videoing a young girl with a hidden camera has been charged five new felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
Eric Kidman, 23, was arrested in June after a 13-year-old girl discovered a “spy-camera” in her room. Kidman’s electronic devices were turned over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a forensic examination. Hundreds of images and videos of graphic and in several cases violent child pornography were recovered, according to investigators.
Court documents show the ages of the exploited children found on Kidman’s electronic devices and various web accounts ranged from to infants to postpubescent teens.
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Kidman’s co-workers told investigators Kidman made persistent offers to babysit their children. If they did not require a babysitter, he offered to teach their children “Bible classes,” court documents show.
In a recorded phone call from the jail between Kidman and his wife, Kidman allegedly admitted to accessing pornography involving children as young as 13-years-old.
Nothing in the court documents indicates Kidman has physically abused any children. However, in addition to the five courts of sexual exploitation of a child, Kidman is facing a sexual abuse of a minor for filming the 13-year-old girl in her room.
Bonneville County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Dewey explained he was not charged with production of child pornography for filming the girl because the production of child pornography charge requires there be sexual activity in the video or images. He said in the video’s Kidman allegedly took of the girl she was simply changing her clothes, which does not constitute child pornography.
Kidman is being held in the Bonneville County Jail on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear on in court for a preliminary hearing on July 27.