A man is in custody after he was accused of hiding multiple cameras inside a south Phoenix home and watching a woman for over a year.
According to court documents, Joel Flores was renting a room at the same home where the victim was also renting a room with her daughter, located near 16th Street and Southern Avenue.
On Wednesday, the victim became suspicious after she began receiving text messages of a sexual nature from Flores, court documents stated.
After speaking with her daughter, the victim discovered a camera had been built into her closet door. The 8-year-old girl reportedly told her that she thought her mother had put the camera there to watch her.
According to court records, after finding the camera, the victim confronted Flores and contacted police.
Flores reportedly admitted to officers that he had placed multiple cameras inside the room and had been watching the victim since she and her daughter moved in a year and a half before.
Flores said he would watch the victim one or two times a day and recorded the footage on his computer.
"It's scary. It's scary to know," said Cheryl Mooney, Flores' next door neighbor. "It really is. I mean, you just never know people."
Mooney wonders what else Flores could have been capable of.
"Are there other cameras out and about and throughout the neighborhood where he could still be watching and seeing things?"
A search warrant executed at the home found three cameras inside the victim's room, as well as a fourth camera in a living room outlet.
Flores has been charged with unlawful recording. Court documents state officials oppose an unsecured release for Flores because he has said he is not a U.S. citizen.
