LAVA HOT SPRINGS, Idaho — A local southeastern Idaho government official faces one felony count of video voyeurism after a Utah woman complained he had filmed her in a campground shower last month.
Cory Del Unsworth, chairman of the Lava Hot Springs Planning &Zoning Commission, is scheduled for a hearing next Wednesday in 6h District Court.
Unsworth owns and manages the Lava Hot Springs KOA campground.
The Idaho State Journal reported Friday a woman was staying there when she saw a cellphone pointed toward her from beneath the shower-room door.
She called Bannock County Sheriff’s deputies, who initially questioned Unsworth but declined to pursue the case.
According to court documents, an officer reported that Unsworth appeared nervous when he was contacted, but that he also freely showed them his cellphone, including the photos and videos in its memory.
The officer on the scene also noted his phone had a blue cover on it, while the victim stated it was a black phone that she saw.
However, the woman later called the agency saying Unsworth had since apologized to her family for filming her — and needed to ask for forgiveness.
Consequently, detectives sought a search warrant and asked Unsworth to come to Bannock County Sheriff’s offices for an interview.
Unsworth acknowledged that he’d replaced his black cellphone cover with a blue one, to throw them off the trail, according to court documents.
He also told law enforcement agents that he had taken as many as 30 videos over the preceding four years, and looked under the shower door 30 additional times, according to the documents.
Contacted Friday, Unsworth said he was traveling and declined comment, though he confirmed next Wednesday’s court date.
“I’m going to withhold everything right now, until I have a chance to talk with some people,” he told The Associated Press.
Lava Hot Springs confirmed Unsworth remains the chairman of the planning commission, which meets again next week for a holiday party.
Lava Hot Springs is a historic bath town east of Pocatello, on the drive between Salt Lake City and Yellowstone National Park.
Unsworth and his wife purchased the KOA campground in 2009 and in 2011 were honored by the Lava Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce with a “Lava Pride” award for work they’d done to improve the facility.
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