One of the alleged victims, the one who brought the voyeurism to light, had noticed something odd just as she was packing to leave the condo after a vacation stay there with her husband in late August: she noticed a brown extension cord leading to a potted plant on the dresser in the bedroom. She looked closer. The cord led to a charger, which had a USB from which a USB cord connected to something in the plant. It was a tiny surveillance video camera. It had been placed there to spy on the bedroom’s occupants.
The woman found the flash card in the camera and reviewed it, looking for clues about its ownership. She found herself video recorded as she was undressing.
The owners of the condo live in Pennsylvania. They’d left the condo in April and hadn’t been back since. The woman contacted them. They had no knowledge of the camera, nor did it belong to any family members, they told the woman. It hadn’t been rented out. The owners allowed family to use it, but none had used it since April, either. But Robert Orr, the condo association president, lives nearby, in Unit D-201, so he would check on the owners’ condo periodically.
On Tuesday, Orr, 59, was arrested on four counts of video voyeurism, a third-degree felony. (His Flagler County jail booking lists his charge as “video voyeurism prior conviction.” If he has been convicted of voyeurism in the past, his latest offenses would be second-degree felonies under Florida law.)Orr has been listed as president of the Las Brisas Condominium Association of Palm Coast since last year. The condominiums are on San Juan Drive in the Matanzas Shore area at the northeast end of the county.
According to Orr’s arrest report, two individuals were captured undressing in the footage captured by the flash card the woman reviewed. But so was Orr himself: on Feb. 15, according to a clip’s timestamp, “the video shows Robert Orr in his bedroom with the camera recording him. These files continue to record Robert Orr’s bedroom for several months and don’t move from that location,” the report states.
The owner of the condo in question told Orr by text on Aug. 22 that the woman was coming to spend a weekend at the owner’s unit. He texted the owner three days later, saying he was in the unit, running the water. At the same time, the surveillance camera video shows Orr placing the camera on the bathroom counter, facing the shower, as he watches from his cell phone. Another video clip shows him placing the camera in the potted plant in the bedroom, where Orr spends several minutes making adjustments, pointing the camera to the bed, looking at his phone, indicating he was streaming the footage to his phone. The day the alleged victim arrived, but just before she walked into the apartment, Orr is again in the bedroom making adjustments to the camera.
The alleged victim and her husband are then seen in the bedroom, getting undressed. Detectives obtained a search warrant of Orr’s condo unit and located several spy cameras and electronic devices. The Sheriff’s Office released images of the camera when it had been hidden among the green leaves of the plant. The devices are still being analyzed.
“I’m urging anyone who has allowed Orr unsupervised access into their home to check for secret recording devices and to contact us right away if they find anything suspicious,” Sheriff Staly said. “At this time, the evidence suggests that Robert Orr acted alone.”
Orr turned himself in at the county jail, where he was booked, posting bail immediately on $20,000 bond. He was released.
The last such case in Flagler County, which may be a judicial template for this one (depending on Orr’s history), goes back to late 2018, when a massage therapist who was studying physical therapy at Daytona State College was arrested at a local wellness business and charged with one count of voyeurism. He had used a cell phone to record a patient during a private massage session.
The therapist, 35 at the time, pleaded out and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years on standard (as opposed to sex offender) probation, but had to forfeit all work as a massage therapist or in the health care field. Adjudication was withheld, sparing him the designation of a felon. His probation is ongoing.
Karen A says
OMG, sick sick… that’s all I can say.
Robert Joseph Fortier says
Not only sick…but stupid enough to be so available for someone to see.
Peeping Tom says
Ive heard This happens occasionally with VRBO and Air B n B rentals. Always give your rental a good once over upon arrival
Susan says
What a low life scum bag. Lock him up and throw away the key. Please Judges not just a slap on the wrist.
A.j says
I’m a guy. I would not do that. A waste of time. Why do something like that. We all .have our problems. Unwise use of time