A Texas man was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of secretly recording 23 women, authorities said.
Plano resident Darius Bradford, 45, was recently convicted of three counts of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit invasive visual recording, according to the Collin County District Attorney's Office.
The investigation began when Plano officers were called to an apartment complex after a female resident alleged that Bradford was secretly recording her. Bradford was working as a maintenance technician at the complex, and the resident reported that he left his cell phone in her bathroom.
Bradford’s cell phone began "remotely erasing" the illicit photos when the officers arrived to the scene.
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"Despite this attempt to destroy evidence, police found videos of Bradford setting up his cell phone in the victim’s bathroom and leaving it there to record her on three different occasions," the Collin County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
During the investigation, a Plano detective discovered evidence of "47 other invasive videos" on Bradford's devices.
"The videos depicted Bradford secretly recording dozens of victims inside various stores and apartment complexes in the community," the statement from authorities read.
One of the victims was the then-15-year-old daughter of one of Bradford's ex-girlfriends.
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"Bradford’s modus operandi was to secretly place his phone in a position that would catch a woman undressing or surreptitiously place his phone at an angle so as to see up a woman’s skirt or dress," the statement explained.
Bradford had been previously arrested for an invasive recording incident at a Ross department store in 2008. He was placed on probation, but later served time in jail after failing to go to sex offender treatment.
He was also arrested for allegedly recording a woman at a mall in 2010, but was never prosecuted for that incident.
Bradford pled guilty to the charges and asked the jury to decide on the length of the sentence. The jury determined the punishment for each charge should be life in prison.
"This perpetrator violated the privacy of 23 different women on 47 different occasions by secretly recording up-skirt and undressing videos. He used his job to gain access and his manipulative personality to gain their trust, definitely earning him a life sentence," District Attorney Greg Willis said in a statement after the sentencing.
