A 60-year-old Tega Cay man is behind bars without bail after investigators say he planted hidden cameras disguised as phone chargers in the bedrooms of a woman and a 16-year-old girl, secretly recording them on video. Charles Douglas Lieske now faces three felony counts of first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and two counts of voyeurism following his booking at the York County Detention Center.
According to detention records from the York County Sheriff’s Office, Lieske was booked last Tuesday at 6:52 p.m. under booking number DC202604037 and held with no bond set. As reported by the Rock Hill Herald, the investigation began after screenshot images from a video feed were discovered, per an incident report. Warrants indicate Lieske had screenshots of the videos saved on an iPad.
Investigators say the hidden cameras were wall-plug devices with USB ports designed to resemble ordinary cellphone chargers, according to the incident report cited by the Herald. That kind of disguise is common in covert surveillance gear: consumer privacy research from SafeHome.org notes that spy cameras built into USB wall-charger plugs often retain fully functional power output specifically to evade detection, since the devices can charge a phone normally while quietly recording, sometimes to an internal SD card or over Wi-Fi.
The Charges and What They Carry
Court records show no trial date has yet been set in the case. Under South Carolina law, first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor is a felony that carries three to 20 years in prison for each conviction, and it applies to coercing, encouraging, or facilitating a minor’s involvement in sexual activity or sexually explicit nudity, according to the South Carolina Legislature’s statute. With three counts filed, Lieske faces the possibility of consecutive sentences well beyond that range if convicted on all charges…