Elk River man charged for secretly recording videos of underage girls in changing rooms, other places

An Elk River man has been charged in Hennepin County District Court after he was caught with a hidden camera in a Mall of America fitting room and at stores, swimming pools and one high school throughout the Twin Cities area.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged 42-year-old Trevor Nielson with felony interference with privacy against a minor. He is not in custody. 

According to the charges, the manager of a Forever 21 store at the Mall of America called Bloomington Police Sept. 28 last year to report a man had been in one of the dressing rooms for a long time. The store manager said the same man had been there two months earlier and, after he left, they discovered a video camera in one of the rooms.

When Nielson left the changing room, police stopped and searched him. Store employees found a camera hidden in the fitting room next to where Nielson had been sitting for almost an hour. He admitted he hid the camera in the fitting room and that he had done it before.

He told investigators he secretly recorded people many times in many locations, including a 15-year-old girl. 

When officers arrived at the Forever 21, he said he was watching the video feed on his cell phone from the next fitting room.

Police executed a search warrant and searched his electronic devices. In them, they found a large number of videos of nude and semi-nude women in changing rooms. Police say many of them were likely under the age of 18.

Police also found videos from a camera that Nielson would attach to his shoe or lower pant leg, which he would stick under the barrier of changing rooms to capture video from adjacent rooms. In one video he captured his own face in the mirror.

Finally, police found video of students at Elk River High School as well as videos of young, teenage girls at swimming pools, parks and other areas, the charges say.

If convicted of the maximum, Nielson faces up to two years in prison.