Former Long Island sleep center worker who put cameras in bathrooms offered probation, no jail time

CBS News

3 days ago

A former Long Island sleep center worker pleaded guilty Tuesday to secretly recording co-workers and patients, including a child, while they were using bathrooms at a Northwell Health facility.
The judge offered him probation with no jail time.
Sanjai Syamaprasad, a father from Brooklyn, installed Velcro dots in nine bathrooms at the Northwell Sleep Disorders and STARS Rehabilitation Center where he worked in Manhasset, and used the dots to position a spy camera disguised as a smoke detector in places where it could record the shower and toilet, prosecutors said.
Northwell fired Syamaprasad last year after he was caught watching the videos at work, and alerted law enforcement.
Prosecutors seized more than 300 videos that recorded body parts of hundreds of people, but based on who they could identify, they were only able to bring charges involving five victims, including a child.
Syamaprasad pleaded guilty to unlawful surveillance and evidence tampering.
Judge Meryl Berkowitz offered five years probation and sex offender registration, but no jail time, citing Syamaprasad's remorse and completion of a program.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly had recommended one to three years behind bars for each count.
"This case deserved jail time," she said. "It's not a one-off. It's not one time, one night he did this. It was night after night after night, victim after victim after victim."
Donnelly says the plea deal sends the wrong message.
"This was a massive, massive violation of people's privacy and rights," she said.
After the hearing, Syamaprasad bolted out of the courthouse, refusing to answer questions.
"It's just very ironic how he can film people sitting on the toilet and in the showers, and then he puts a mask and a hat on and runs out covering his face," former sleep center employee Brenda Pellettieri said.
Pellettieri is one of potentially hundreds of victims whose private bathroom moments were secretly recorded. Victims are now part of class action lawsuits against both Syamaprasad and Northwell Health.
"It's really destroyed my faith in humanity. You don't trust people," Pellettieri said.
"My firm has spoken personally to hundreds and hundreds of victims, and I know they're going to be extremely disappointed that he's not going to be serving any jail time," said John Rubenstein, an attorney with German Rubenstein LLP.
Sentencing will be formalized on Sept. 15, when all sides will have an opportunity to speak.