Crime & Safety

Police: Sayville Man Illegally Video Taped Females in Restroom

Christian Lee heads to court today on first of five counts of illegal surveillance activity.

A Sayville man will plead not guilty to five counts of illegal surveillance activity and is due in Suffolk County Court Thursday morning on a quest to have the charges dropped, according to his lawyer.

Christian Lee, 24, was first arrested May 23 for allegedly installing a camera in a women’s employee bathroom at a Fire Island Pines bar establishment located on Picketty Ruff Walk and taping bathroom user activity on a PC, according to Suffolk Police.

He was initially charged with one count of unlawful surveillance with no legitimate purpose, according to police reports.

Find out what's happening in Sayville-Bayportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Aug. 27 police added four more counts of the same charge, according to police reports.

But Lee’s lawyer said his client denies the charges and intends to have the allegations dropped at this morning’s court hearing in Riverhead before Judge Gary Weber.

Find out what's happening in Sayville-Bayportwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“He completely denies these horrendous allegations and has no previous involvement in the criminal justice system,” Christopher Brucato told Patch in a phone interview.

“He has never been in trouble with the law,” added Brucato, of the Brucato & Byrne law firm in Central Islip.

The charges are E felonies and carry a maximum of a one-to-three years in prison.

There's an Oct. 22 court date on the additional four charges, but Brucato is confident his client’s legal battle will be over by then.

“We won’t be having to attend that court date,” he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.